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I'm holding up my hands and saying, "yes, I was completely and totally, absolutely wrong."

I genuinely didn't think that Bioware would give up and throw in the towel. I was completely and totally 100 percent wrong.

It's this reaction and decision that's got me reconsidering buying bioware products now, not the issues the game had.

It is a complicating decision, it remarkably degrades customers opinion in Bioware and the support they will do for their products, in an era were post launch support is what really matters.

I wonder how well multiplayer will fare now, or the tie in products and more importantly how it will affect the other future Bioware products.

I am suspecting this decision will haunt them for a long time and will have a negative impact on them.

 Compel wrote:
I'm holding up my hands and saying, "yes, I was completely and totally, absolutely wrong."

I genuinely didn't think that Bioware would give up and throw in the towel. I was completely and totally 100 percent wrong.

It's this reaction and decision that's got me reconsidering buying bioware products now, not the issues the game had.

Truthfully, I did.

I hoped they wouldn't...but it has to be disheartening to see something you loved just crapped on left and right.

 Compel wrote:
I'm holding up my hands and saying, "yes, I was completely and totally, absolutely wrong."

I genuinely didn't think that Bioware would give up and throw in the towel. I was completely and totally 100 percent wrong.

It's this reaction and decision that's got me reconsidering buying bioware products now, not the issues the game had.

The question is -

How much of the decision is Bioware's, and how much is EA's? It's possible that what we're seeing here is EA dropping the hammer.

In any event, I'm disappointed, and I'm much more hesitant about Bioware going forward. I know a lot of people liked DA:I, but it's the only Bioware game I've played that I never quite got around to finishing. I liked ME:A, but it wasn't as polished as it should have been, and the company abandoned it after the reviews came in. Hopefully there will be a sequel before long. But given how EA frequently acts, I wouldn't be surprised if the franchise is effectively dead (except maybe as a multi-player thing).

Eumerin wrote:

 Compel wrote:
I'm holding up my hands and saying, "yes, I was completely and totally, absolutely wrong."

I genuinely didn't think that Bioware would give up and throw in the towel. I was completely and totally 100 percent wrong.

It's this reaction and decision that's got me reconsidering buying bioware products now, not the issues the game had.

The question is -

How much of the decision is Bioware's, and how much is EA's? It's possible that what we're seeing here is EA dropping the hammer.

In any event, I'm disappointed, and I'm much more hesitant about Bioware going forward. I know a lot of people liked DA:I, but it's the only Bioware game I've played that I never quite got around to finishing. I liked ME:A, but it wasn't as polished as it should have been, and the company abandoned it after the reviews came in. Hopefully there will be a sequel before long. But given how EA frequently acts, I wouldn't be surprised if the franchise is effectively dead (except maybe as a multi-player thing).

EA's actually pretty tolerant towards franchises with an established developer or potential for success.
We wouldn't have gotten a Titanfall 2 if that weren't the case. The crowd that work at Respawn(most of whom were responsible for Call of Duty 1-3 and Modern Warfare 1+2 but then got shafted by Activision and basically shut out of their own company) were an established bunch but Titanfall 1 didn't do so great getting complaints about the "lack of story mode".

Dragon Age: Inquisition and ME: A both represent BioWare trying to expand a bit with the MP side of things(the story being continued via MP/strike missions). In both cases it's gotten panned rather hard("we don't want to have to play MP to learn more story!" is a criticism I've heard from several people, insinuating that the Strike Missions which can be done SP or MP are somehow 'gating' the content away from you) or their developers themselves have been attacked over wanting to make that content happen.

I can't blame BioWare, as much as I want to. This doesn't color my impression of them, but it does worry me a bit about "Anthem" as they were definitely trying some new stuff there from the looks.

 Compel wrote:
I'm holding up my hands and saying, "yes, I was completely and totally, absolutely wrong."

I genuinely didn't think that Bioware would give up and throw in the towel. I was completely and totally 100 percent wrong.

It's this reaction and decision that's got me reconsidering buying bioware products now, not the issues the game had.

That's probably the appropriate reaction. Bioware went with MEA from a company that, if I were interested in the trailers/promos for a game, I'd preorder the mid level special edition usually priced around $70-80 months ahead of time to a wait and see company (my current view on Anthem despite my interest). I was at least hoping that they'd put out the first SP dlc and then call it quits to avoid the stigma of no followup content for one of their RPGs but I wasn't holding my breath once the news of the downsizing and then closure of the studio happened. The game sold millions of copies according to a video I watched although it fell millions short of expectations. With big companies like EA/Bioware, it isn't just about whether doing something will make you good money but rather if devoting those resources to something else will make you more. This was a financially motivated decision I assume to focus on the next game instead of supporting one that already made most of its profit despite the negative effect that would have on their rep and how unpopular it would be with their customers.

I really wish people would stop mentioning the shifting of Edmonton employees to another branch of EA.

That was in the works for years apparently.

 Kanluwen wrote:

EA's actually pretty tolerant towards franchises with an established developer or potential for success.
We wouldn't have gotten a Titanfall 2 if that weren't the case. The crowd that work at Respawn(most of whom were responsible for Call of Duty 1-3 and Modern Warfare 1+2 but then got shafted by Activision and basically shut out of their own company) were an established bunch but Titanfall 1 didn't do so great getting complaints about the "lack of story mode".

I haven't paid much attention, so I'll have to take your word for it. I still remember what happened when they ran Origin Systems into the ground.

I'm still sore about not getting Crusader 2, dagnabbit!

 Kanluwen wrote:
I really wish people would stop mentioning the shifting of Edmonton employees to another branch of EA.

That was in the works for years apparently.

Link please. That's the opposite of what was written in the Kotaku article and flies in the face of common sense given not just individually but as a whole the relative (not absolute) failure of the game, above average post release downsizing, significant management shifts, studio closure, and abandonment of the single player game. None of what we've heard since release feels "in the works for years" but rather a response to the reception.

Well the only hope is that the new general director/ manager of bioware who is the original creator of mass effect said he cares about the franchise.

Yes! I love #MassEffect too much to not want to work on it again in the future. Thanks for the support - it means everything to our team.

https://twitter.com/CaseyDHudson/status/899094294589341696

For whatever that is worth.

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
Well the only hope is that the new general director/ manager of bioware who is the original creator of mass effect said he cares about the franchise.

Yes! I love #MassEffect too much to not want to work on it again in the future. Thanks for the support - it means everything to our team.

https://twitter.com/CaseyDHudson/status/899094294589341696

For whatever that is worth.

Not much. He was quite positive about the phoned in half assed ME3 ending that he personally came up with despite the deluge of disappointment that rolled in after release. Hopefully he's less full of himself now than he was after the first two games in the original trilogy.

 warboss wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
I really wish people would stop mentioning the shifting of Edmonton employees to another branch of EA.

That was in the works for years apparently.

Link please. That's the opposite of what was written in the Kotaku article and flies in the face of common sense given not just individually but as a whole the relative (not absolute) failure of the game, above average post release downsizing, significant management shifts, studio closure, and abandonment of the single player game. None of what we've heard since release feels "in the works for years" but rather a response to the reception.

And all I really have to say is that it's Kotaku. You're welcome to believe it if you like, but I'm not going to produce evidence on something like this that will be satisfactory to your specifications.

Did the game's reception help matters? Probably not. But if you actually paid attention you would have noted that many of the staff from Edmonton have been moved to EA Motive in Montreal. EA Motive was founded in 2015/2016. No real announcements have been made about what projects they're working on but if one goes and looks up their Twitter feed(which hasn't actually published/posted anything...doesn't even have anything beyond the "default profile picture") you'd note the following profile/bio:

We are a team of designers, developers, artists, engineers, and storytellers, driven to enrich players' lives through meaningful entertainment.

In any regards, the multiplayer has had things in the works for awhile. That was the whole point of why they've got Strike Missions that go up every Thursday without fail.
And if you played Mass Effect 3, you'd note that we're not getting dedicated DLCs for MP. We're getting a character every few weeks tied to the story. We've gotten 5 characters added to the MP, and a similar number of weapons added(aside from the new "specialty" weapons, which are just variants on existing weapons and the "S" variants of the original human guns).

The DLC packs for ME3? We were seeing 5-6 characters every DLC. We're seeing the same thing here just staggered out instead. I genuinely suspect that anything/everything we get up until next year has been done and waiting for deployment.

Well the negative reaction starts to build up from the announcement.

And yes, I was not hoping for good story from him, just not axing the franchise and trying to revive it.

https://techraptor.net/content/single-player-patches-content-mass-effect-andromeda-ceased

It's finally dead. Good riddance. I hope Bioware proper is next for the headsman's axe.

We discuss for a bit, regardless of your opinion on the final product, don't you think your stance is a bit extreme, wanting hundreds of families facing unemployment?

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
We discuss for a bit, regardless of your opinion on the final product, don't you think your stance is a bit extreme, wanting hundreds of families facing unemployment?

That is such a stupid line of reasoning. I dislike the game, therefore I want people to lose their jobs? By that logic, why haven't you given your entire pay-cheque to some family in Brazil?

 BaconCatBug wrote:

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
We discuss for a bit, regardless of your opinion on the final product, don't you think your stance is a bit extreme, wanting hundreds of families facing unemployment?

That is such a stupid line of reasoning. I dislike the game, therefore I want people to lose their jobs? By that logic, why haven't you given your entire pay-cheque to some family in Brazil?

It isn't that you disliked the game, it is that you wished for the whole Bioware studio to be axed.

Exactly, your statement wants bioware studio be axed, that is the hundreds of employees working for them.

 BaconCatBug wrote:

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
We discuss for a bit, regardless of your opinion on the final product, don't you think your stance is a bit extreme, wanting hundreds of families facing unemployment?

That is such a stupid line of reasoning. I dislike the game, therefore I want people to lose their jobs? By that logic, why haven't you given your entire pay-cheque to some family in Brazil?

I'm not even sure what you're arguing here...you just posted a hope for Bioware as a whole to be axed, meaning hundreds of people are suddenly forced to seek new lines of employment (or, more likely move to some satellite EA office). Perhaps you should calm down and remember rule number 1 - this thread has been open for nearly 30 pages, let's not get it closed because of some personal frustrations.

As for the most recent bit of news - it's a shame. I might not have liked ME:A as much as the previous trilogy or the DA games, but I would have liked to see the story fleshed out a bit more - there were so many bits that needed answering. I suppose there's hope with their new title (who's name escapes me currently), which looked pretty good during it's reveal, but I guess only time will tell.

"Anthem", Frankenberry.

I am pretty excited for Anthem. Customisable exosuits are pretty damn cool. Looking forward to seeing more about the different gameplay options and the story.

To be honest, how they treated MEA and the story uncovered from MEA development killed all enthusiasm I may had for it, the latest news just eroded my confidence on their support of it if it does not go as good as they hope.

I think MEA shows pre orders are bad ideas and you can't trust Bioware to make a good game (this is not the 1st let down from them)
The only DA game I loved was the 1st one ME 1 and 2 were good ME 3 was ok but for the last hour

I HATE forced MP it hurts players and i see the "will still support MP" as a waste of time

ME3 taught me the lesson to never preorder a videogame again, havent done so since then, likely will never do so.

MEA's fate is shocking, but perhaps not unsurprising. Bioware has clearly lost whatever secret sauce they had with Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter, ME 1, and the original Dark Age, as seeminly the post 2010 releases seem to have gotten progressively less well received and burdened with issues both technical and artistic, that Bioware largely seems to simply try and ignore. A large part of that is likely EA, they have a knack for killing anything of value they acquire, but most of the talent that made those games and franchsies what they were and that built the company is long gone.

That an IP like Mass Effect could be so royally botched as to face this result should however be professionally embarassing for everyone who had any sort of decision making role in the product. That they would kill all developement on hame like MEA, that should have 18-36 months of DLC life, is indicative of major issues.

After how Bioware ruined the chance for making a new and good ME game, and the abhorrent state of the game when it was released and subsecet issues I have no qualms of wishing to see Bioware keel over. But thankfully the game is now dead

 Trondheim wrote:
After how Bioware ruined the chance for making a new and good ME game, and the abhorrent state of the game when it was released and subsecet issues I have no qualms of wishing to see Bioware keel over. But thankfully the game is now dead

Why are you thankful?

I mean, I get "The lack of polish early on broke my immersion." I get "I didn't like the story of this one." I get "I don't like EA's business policies." But I just can't comprehend how you get from a start point like this to "I am emotionally invested in seeing this fail utterly, regardless of how many other people liked it." Just seems like a very vindictive and selfish viewpoint to take.

 Elemental wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
After how Bioware ruined the chance for making a new and good ME game, and the abhorrent state of the game when it was released and subsecet issues I have no qualms of wishing to see Bioware keel over. But thankfully the game is now dead

Why are you thankful?

I mean, I get "The lack of polish early on broke my immersion." I get "I didn't like the story of this one." I get "I don't like EA's business policies." But I just can't comprehend how you get from a start point like this to "I am emotionally invested in seeing this fail utterly, regardless of how many other people liked it." Just seems like a very vindictive and selfish viewpoint to take.

Welcome to the world on online fandom, where beliefs constitute religion and opinions are anathema to discussion. there is no peace amongst the servers, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of the thirsting ISP providers.

Kanluwen wrote:"Anthem", Frankenberry.

Ah! Thank you sir!

Gordon Shumway wrote:

 Elemental wrote:

 Trondheim wrote:
After how Bioware ruined the chance for making a new and good ME game, and the abhorrent state of the game when it was released and subsecet issues I have no qualms of wishing to see Bioware keel over. But thankfully the game is now dead

Why are you thankful?

I mean, I get "The lack of polish early on broke my immersion." I get "I didn't like the story of this one." I get "I don't like EA's business policies." But I just can't comprehend how you get from a start point like this to "I am emotionally invested in seeing this fail utterly, regardless of how many other people liked it." Just seems like a very vindictive and selfish viewpoint to take.

Welcome to the world on online fandom, where beliefs constitute religion and opinions are anathema to discussion. there is no peace amongst the servers, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of the thirsting ISP providers.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Have an exalt!

 Vaktathi wrote:
ME3 taught me the lesson to never preorder a videogame again, havent done so since then, likely will never do so.

MEA's fate is shocking, but perhaps not unsurprising. Bioware has clearly lost whatever secret sauce they had with Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter, ME 1, and the original Dark Age, as seeminly the post 2010 releases seem to have gotten progressively less well received and burdened with issues both technical and artistic, that Bioware largely seems to simply try and ignore. A large part of that is likely EA, they have a knack for killing anything of value they acquire, but most of the talent that made those games and franchsies what they were and that built the company is long gone.

That an IP like Mass Effect could be so royally botched as to face this result should however be professionally embarassing for everyone who had any sort of decision making role in the product. That they would kill all developement on hame like MEA, that should have 18-36 months of DLC life, is indicative of major issues.

To be perfectly frank Bioware is a tremendously overrated developer. And I say that as a huge fan. It doesn't surprise me, at all, that the ball was completely dropped with Andromeda. Since NWN, I'd say maybe 2-3 of the games they've released have actually lived up to their reputation.

Yeah, that's disappointing. It was the best ME game (the other good one being 2).

I still haven't figured out what the point of the multiplayer stuff is, so supporting that over the game is a bit baffling. There was a lot to work with - this just strikes me as an out-of-touch management decision somewhere along the line, either in Bio or EA (or both).

It makes me wonder if they're going to bail on RPGs entirely.