Bioware General (Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Other)

[Dragaros]

http://blog.bioware.com/2019/09/05/september-update/

[[ "September Update by Author - Casey Hudson - September 5, 2019.

Humans! It’s been a super busy summer at the studio, but I wanted to get a note out to share some of the things we’ve been up to.

Anthem

Over the last few weeks we’ve been ramping up our Cataclysm events in Anthem – a season-long event with new arenas, enemies, challenges, and rewards. We have a big team working on Anthem in both Austin and Edmonton, and while it’s been great to see the community response to Cataclysm, I know there’s a lot more work to do to bring out the full potential of the game. We have plans for those more fundamental improvements, but they’ll take time. While the team works towards the longer-term vision of the game, they will also continue to deliver updates to features and content. I believe in Anthem and would love to see its world grow, evolve, and thrive for years to come. Thanks for your patience and support as we do the work of constantly improving and expanding the experience.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

I was in our Austin studio recently, where I was able to check out the update our SWTOR team is working on. Star Wars: The Old Republic Onslaught is coming this fall, and delivers an adventure spanning several new areas including two new planets, a return to Corellia, plus a new and updated itemization system. I love seeing the team’s enthusiasm and passion for SWTOR, where nearly 8 years after the initial launch, they are demonstrating their long-term commitment to the game with an ambitious update.

Other Stuff Going On

We have several other big projects in the works. I wish I could tell you more about them, but they’re mostly super-secret right now. I can say however that one of our projects has a large and growing team in Edmonton working through pre-production, and based on the progress I’m seeing, I can confirm that indeed the Dread Wolf rises.

Moving to New Digs

One of the things I’m most excited about is that after almost 15 years in our previous Edmonton location we have moved to a brand-new state-of-the-art facility in the thriving ICE District downtown. We’ve been very fortunate to have EA’s support in building out three large floors of amazing new office space, custom-designed from the ground up for the future of game development. This represents a tremendous investment in the future of our studio, and I can’t wait to see what we create here.

Join Us!

With these big projects ahead of us, we’re going to need some help, so we’re looking for amazing people to join our teams in both Edmonton and Austin. Have a look at our jobs page and see if there’s something there for you! Ultimately what makes me happiest is working with talented teams on games I know players will love, and having the time and resources to make them amazing. When I look at all of the things going on around BioWare I’m more excited about our future than ever. Thanks for checking out the update and thank you for your continued support!" ]]

[magnuskn]

I guess "Enjoy having a mental breakdown due to overworking stress and a uncertain future in our great panic rooms!" would not fit well into the "Join Us!" section. ^^

[NCLanceman]

By now, I think a better way to get people to join them is saying "We're not using Frostbite anymore. Our bad. Anyone know about Unity or Unreal?"

[Vol]

Playing Classic WoW has helped convince me that rose-tinted glasses are not a total, or consistent, phenomenon. Before ME:A, I played the entire Shepard trilogy from start to finish in a marathon, and while age and the technical restraints of being on consoles had made ME1 clunky in places, I still felt the joy of wonder and exploration. Albeit knowing everything about it was a downside, as there was nothing truly left to discover.

There's a magic to the old style of design.

[NCLanceman]

Man, Anthem. Remember Anthem? Apparently it's on the basic level of Origin Access these days. Looks like that time I got impatient and wanted to play Mass Effect: Andromeda a week early and forgot to cancel finally paid off!

[Dragaros]

"BioWare Blog What is next for Anthem"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIgZb07ztak

[Dragaros]

https://www.ea.com/games/anthem/update-notes

https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/anthem/news/update-150

https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/anthem/n ... -of-skulls

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tech/gaming ... s-20633232

https://www.pcgamer.com/anthem-has-laun ... of-skulls/

[TTTX]

.........

You know when the game sucks and they are so desperate to lure players in from another franchise with skins that looks like the most popular races, they also got more or less got killed because of reasons.

This is insulting to me at least.

[Alienmorph]

"Remember when we made games that weren't broken messes at launch and that you actually liked?"

How cute.

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/xshadowsnakex

[Dragaros]

Tali'Zorah (Mass Effect) A Skin Mod For Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

[Dragaros]

EA Plans to Deliver ‘Exciting Remasters’ Between Early 2020 and 2021

EA promise ‘remasters of fan favourites’ – Mass Effect and Dead Space?

EA Gives Mass Effect Fans Hope with Confirmation of 'Exciting Remasters' Coming Soon

[Dragaros]

Another Anthem lead departs BioWare

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/ ... t-bioware/

https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/20 ... es-studio/

https://www.pcgamer.com/bioware-loses-a ... them-lead/

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/anoth ... 0-6471064/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnthemTheGame/ ... robertson/

https://twitter.com/crobertson_atx/stat ... 9735051269

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBb_crzylOU

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVZfPohK96U

[SciFlyBoy]

I've been really enjoying the ME3 multiplayer recently after I figured out I was missing the MP packs that let me play with others and get challenges and stuff. However I haven't been able to connect to the EA servers on my Xbox for....2 to 3 days now? I've been looking up to see if I can find any news but I haven't found anything. Does anyone know if they shut the servers down or heard anything about other players not getting a connection?

[TheodoricFriede]

I have a theory that they are going to announce the Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster sometime in December, so maybe it has something to do with that.

[Alienmorph]

Well, tomorrow is N7 Day... that'd be pretty much the perfect time to start teasing the thing. But December is another obviously good place to do that.

[SciFlyBoy]

The multiplayer does work I found out. It's the Galaxy At War that doesn't show up, and it's red with a big exclamation mark. Maybe I'll have to get into the campaign to solve that.

Anyway, Happy N7 day. Anyone doing anything for the occasion? Personally I'm spending the day trying to restore a computer, or reinstall the OS, or ANYTHING I can do to get it to boot up. Ugh.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uvph7XxGY8

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RF0u8u_mk

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Apw1-XJmFw

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDnunHJcKz0

[Dragaros]

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2019/11/07 ... le-n7-day/



https://twitter.com/GamingHeads?ref_src ... r%5Eauthor



https://www.trendsmap.com/twitter/tweet ... 8668669953



https://twitter.com/bioware/status/1192139640674717697

[Dragaros]

https://twitter.com/CaseyDHudson?ref_sr ... r%5Eauthor

"We have so many ideas for things we want to do in #MassEffect, so much concept art that hasn't yet been brought to life, and so many stories yet to tell."

[Vol]

Still has a special place in my heart. Hope it always does. Though tempting as it may be, a $230 Tali statue is a bit much right now, especially after hosting fees. One day I'll find out who in my family stole my signed litho, maybe.

My point being, announce a ME project actively in production, dammit, with a team of greybeards who've read old sci-fi and don't have social media!

[Vol]

https://kotaku.com/sources-bioware-plan ... 1839892415

Jason is a fuckface, but he seems to have an in with the woke crowd, so this is very probably true. Anthem overhaul, DA4 & next ME are in dev.

[Alienmorph]

So BW wants to try to get its shit togheter? I hope they can pull it off, tho I'm not holding my breath.

[Vol]

From what we've heard, the issue has consistently been a lack of leadership. At all studios, except Austin, somehow. So given that ME:A and Anthem do have moments of genuine fun, I more than got my money's worth out of both, I would hope that if there was leadership somehow, then they could do good work again.

[TheodoricFriede]

Not to sound all too cool for school, but I also know someone who knows someone who has corroborated this.

That said, i'm not too confident. And frankly by the time dragon age 4 comes out ill be in my 30s. I just cant care about that story anymore.

[Vol]

Which part of this, Cooly Mc2Cool4School the Coolie from Coolsville?

[magnuskn]

Well, ME Next (or whatever) being exciting will heavily depend on where and when they'll choose to progress the story.

Anthem was a disaster and I'm kinda "eh" on the Dragon Age series by this point, since the last two ones really didn't connect that well with me.

And I just hope they will have given up on the HUGE OPEN WORLD WITH A GAZILLION TIME CONSUMING FETCHQUESTS!!!! game design and will focus on the story again. And stop putting SJW'ness before good character design.

Honestly, I might be realistically not looking forward to any of this at all, lest it really is "Shepard's back, bitches!" for the ME universe.

[Alienmorph]

That's kinda the opposite for me instead. The last thing I'd like is to pull a Disney Star Wars and make a Mass Effect: the Shepard Awakens.

The only instance I'd like to see again Shepard and pals is if they went the Master Chief Collection route and did remakes of the trilogy, or very advanced remasters with significant amounts of improvements and additional content.

If it were for me I'd do something like a "Mass Effect: Terminus" that runs completely parallel and indipendent from the other games, and where you get to be a space mercenary and just have fun with the setting. No Messiah Complexes attached. Think Outer Worlds, but in the ME setting.

But my guess is that out of these three, the first is the most probable, especially now that they already tried the "completely detached from Shepard" (except for referencing the original games every 3 minutes) route, and failed miserably at it.

[Dragaros]

If it were for me I'd do something like a "Mass Effect: Terminus" that runs completely parallel and indipendent from the other games, and where you get to be a space mercenary and just have fun with the setting. No Messiah Complexes attached. Think Outer Worlds, but in the ME setting.

We're on a similar page on that front. What could get me excited for a new ME game would be the following conditions:

--it is set in the milky way galaxy; I was never onboard with the “lets go to Andromeda!” concept
--it takes place after ME3; I don’t want to do prequels
--the destroy ending is made canon; ME3’s ending in its entirety is still dumb to this day, but as I've said before, while I can accept the franchise going forward with Destroy as the foundation point for new stories, I refuse to do the same for Control and Synthesis
--a new main character; Shepard survived the Crucible but is now dead of old age and is not a part of the narrative
--the main character isn't limited to just being a human; our favorite alien races are options in the character creation
--let us see for ourselves how the galaxy has rebuilt itself from the Reaper war; I want my character to see how the consequences of Shepard’s actions back in the ME trilogy bore fruit for future generations, such as how Rannoch’s doing now that the quarians have had time to reforge their civilization
--I’d prefer that the main character isn’t a space super soldier or chosen one archetype; I want to be something like a merc/pirate/smuggler/vigilante/bounty hunter with a plot that is much smaller in scale and scope as I don’t want to save the universe again from some cosmic level threat or god-like enemy, as mostly I just want to explore and experience the wonders of the galaxy with a loyal crew and a neat ship and inflict or solve trouble as I see fit

The only way to get me excited for a remaster/remake of the Shepard trilogy would be for it to have substantial new content. Because if not, and all that's really new is sharper graphics, a few extra weapons, or 10 extra seconds added to a romance scene or some such, I can just satisfy my curiosity by waiting for people to upload video of it to youtube and save myself time and money. If I ever get a ME itch, I have numerous save files ready to go at a moment's notice; I can do a "Mass Effect's greatest moments and scenes" marathon whenever I feel like. I need more missions, new chats/scenes with the our squadmates, or a better ending, etc., for me to get interested in a remaster/remake. Especially considering the tons of impressive fan-made mods out there.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGJJV2kp02o

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7CMrKUAnTM

[magnuskn]

I could live with "100 years after Shepard", since it means we'd still get some cameos. Although that'd mean we'd get the Blueberry shoved down our throat again. <hurkkkk> Because you *know* that Hack Walters and Casey Hudson would jizz all over her once more.

[Alienmorph]

That's another reason I want them to stay away from the trilogy timeline and characters. Ffs, they found a way to include her even in Adromeda.

[magnuskn]

Well, I guess I gotta weigh "See how Tali and Shepard turned out" (because they would include stuff like this with import saves, I'm pretty sure) to "more Blueberry worship-fapping by the writers". ^^

[SciFlyBoy]

Is this the same news from Kotaku, but more recent? New ME game in development?

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment ... ar-BBX6bri

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/new-m ... 0-6471500/

[Joblom]

If I did a sequel I'd set it several centuries after the trilogy. Time enough that no witnesses except a few asari and krogan would have been around for those events. As ridiculous as it is, there ARE ways to write around ME3's ending. Not that it will look pretty, but it could be done. I'd be fine with a reboot though. No Reapers this time.

[TheodoricFriede]

I think there is one way the Mass Effect series successfully continues.

EA releases a remaster of the Trilogy with a new, canon, ending added. Replace the you shot the Star Child "fuck you" ending with an actual confirmation of indoctrination Theory. Big Dumb "You won the war!" monologue with Shepard narrating stills. Set the next game 200 years in the future when everything is rebuilt.

[Alienmorph]

Honestly? I'd take that, I cannot lie.

Still think thei're gonna Force Awakens the whole series if they ever try to make another ME game, tho.

[TTTX]

Honestly? I'd take that, I cannot lie.

Still think thei're gonna Force Awakens the whole series if they ever try to make another ME game, tho.

to be fair Force Awakens isn't bad, it only went downhill when the Last Jedi came out.

Also the Force Awakens was more or less ME:A anyway and that didn't go well.

[Alienmorph]

to be fair Force Awakens isn't bad, it only went downhill when the Last Jedi came out.

That'd be an whole other discussion and it would go in the Movie thread. And honestly, I'm just waiting to see how bad Rise of Skywalker is, and I don't feel like discussing its two predecessors much anymore.

Also the Force Awakens was more or less ME:A anyway and that didn't go well.

I guess... ? The "Hey, remember THIS thing from the original?" was strong with it for sure. But other than that it was more of a poorly written spinoff than a beat-for-beat soft reboot.

[TTTX]

That'd be an whole other discussion and it would go in the Movie thread. And honestly, I'm just waiting to see how bad Rise of Skywalker is, and I don't feel like discussing its two predecessors much anymore.

yeah, not going to see Rise of Skywalker myself, there is no reason as I don't care about any of the characters that are left, I might do it if it turns out Rose dies in it, I really hate that character.

I guess... ? The "Hey, remember THIS thing from the original?" was strong with it for sure. But other than that it was more of a poorly written spinoff than a beat-for-beat soft reboot.

It had a lot of the same beats (meeting a new mysterious villain race, finding out about some sort of tech that can threaten the galaxy or in the case systems, go to a lot of planets to find clues to said device, have the whole choose between two things where one lives and the other dies, the council trying to prevent you from going, the final battle, even down to choosing a council member, it even ends on a cliffhanger that unlike the original will most likely never happen) as the original even down to the villain trying to be Sovereign with the whole "I don't have to explain, what you can't understand" line at least when it came to the main story.

[Joblom]

Set the next game 200 years in the future when everything is rebuilt.

I want to play in a post-apocalyptic Milky Way. Various petty kingdoms and various other governments springing up in isolated star systems. The Turian Hierarchy shattered into dozens of factions, each declaring supremacy over the others. Earth a poisoned and mutated wasteland due to all the eezo that rained down on it. Humans reduced to a respected but ultimately weak race due to their losses in the war. So forth.

to be fair Force Awakens isn't bad, it only went downhill when the Last Jedi came out.

Also the Force Awakens was more or less ME:A anyway and that didn't go well.

It's good in terms of entertainment value but it is a worse Star Wars film than any of the prequels. Horrible and inconsistent tone that makes it a mess, unimaginative plot that is just a rehash of a previous film, and bland, charismatic characters. Crap. TLJ does take the suck to another level once thought impossible, though.

[TheodoricFriede]

I want to play in a post-apocalyptic Milky Way.

I cant think of anything I'd want less.

[Mazder]

I want to play in a post-apocalyptic Milky Way. Various petty kingdoms and various other governments springing up in isolated star systems. The Turian Hierarchy shattered into dozens of factions, each declaring supremacy over the others. Earth a poisoned and mutated wasteland due to all the eezo that rained down on it. Humans reduced to a respected but ultimately weak race due to their losses in the war. So forth.

So basically not Mass Effect.

[Joblom]

So basically not Mass Effect.

What invalidates it as Mass Effect?

[magnuskn]

Yeah, no thanks, either. People can play Fallout or The Outer Worlds for another post-apocalyptic game.