The blame's at senior management of former Bioware.
SWToR is the game that senior Bioware management designed before Bioware got acquired by EA. Bioware's studio in Austin was setup 2 years before EA acquired Bioware - hard to see how people can blame EA for something they had nothing to do with.
EA's fault was to buy Bioware from Elevation Partners for this completely crazy sum they paid for it, what was it, something like $700 or $800 million?
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
The international economic climate is pants. That's got to have an effect. The Euro is dying, debt ceiling in US of America emerging yet again soon, game company's in financial trouble, it all adds up.
The blame's at senior management of former Bioware.
SWToR is the game that senior Bioware management designed before Bioware got acquired by EA. Bioware's studio in Austin was setup 2 years before EA acquired Bioware - hard to see how people can blame EA for something they had nothing to do with.
EA's fault was to buy Bioware from Elevation Partners for this completely crazy sum they paid for it, what was it, something like $700 or $800 million?
If BW already held the Starwars licence when EA bought them, then that would explain the "completely crazy sum" that EA paid. Not to mention the fact that the "Bioware" brand name was huge. And added to that, BW do have some other little games in their portfolio, not only a Starwars MMO...
The "blame" goes to the majority of gamers in the genre.
Gamers "voted" WoW to be the greatest MMORPG to date with their (mums or dads) wallets and the result is this and will still be for some years to come.
The "blame" goes to the majority of gamers in the genre.
I would say both. TBF gamers don't know what they really want. They claim they want a game different from WoW, but what they think they want is a game similar to WoW in mechanics but a different lore (at least that is what they think they want). Steve jobs, once said people don't know what they want until you give it to them (in product design at least), I think that is what is going on here.
Then the other problem are the publishers, they see WoW's numbers and they want a piece of that action. The problem is that WoW was an annomaly in the genre, it came out at the perfect time with enough mechanics to appeal to the casual gamers as compared to everquest, so it blow up into what it is.
The good thing about the recent failings of Rift and Swtor is that it will force the genre and publishers to stop trying to replicate the success of WoW with another WoW clone. If an IP like star wars couldn't beat WoW, then it a plus overrall for the genre.
SWTOR sucked due to game design issues, which is completely the developer's fault. The developer here is Bioware. However, EA purchased Bioware and then did there thing making Bioware all stupid and EAified so that they had little real recourse other than to release an awful game since they were too stupid and inept to make a good game.
Are you a Pavlovian Fish Biscuit Addict? Get Help Now! I will play no more MMORPGs until somethign good comes out!
As much as EA is a magnet for nerd rage the blame lays squarely on the shoulders of BioWare, it was their decision to focus more of story then on gameplay and even if EA was not in the picture the game would not have turned out any differently. BioWare strongly believes in storytelling and if you watch the trend of their games you will see they have gone from almost balancing gameplay with story to weighting more on the story then the game play.
This was why I was never excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic as an "MMO" all I expected from the rumor days to release was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic with multiplayer features and that just what I got. Heck at one point in time they all but admitted that's what it was going to be (back before they let their egos make them think they had a hit on their hands.) If EA is responsible for anything it's the hype machine but since when did a company at EA's level really know the type of game someone at BioWare's level was developing outside of staff meetings.
So yeah BioWare is at fault here, if there really is any fault in BioWare releasing a game that is purely Bioware. *shrugs*
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
The "blame" goes to the majority of gamers in the genre.
I would say both. TBF gamers don't know what they really want. They claim they want a game different from WoW, but what they think they want is a game similar to WoW in mechanics but a different lore (at least that is what they think they want). Steve jobs, once said people don't know what they want until you give it to them (in product design at least), I think that is what is going on here.
Then the other problem are the publishers, they see WoW's numbers and they want a piece of that action. The problem is that WoW was an annomaly in the genre, it came out at the perfect time with enough mechanics to appeal to the casual gamers as compared to everquest, so it blow up into what it is.
The good thing about the recent failings of Rift and Swtor is that it will force the genre and publishers to stop trying to replicate the success of WoW with another WoW clone. If an IP like star wars couldn't beat WoW, then it a plus overrall for the genre.
Lol, why would the "failings" of Rift and SWTOR have any particular influence on anything ?
Every MMO launched since WOW has "failed" (at least in the eyes of the MMORPG forum community, anyway).
Will SWTOR be the "last straw" ? Or is that camel's back a lot stronger than anticipated ?
As much as EA is a magnet for nerd rage the blame lays squarely on the shoulders of BioWare, it was their decision to focus more of story then on gameplay and even if EA was not in the picture the game would not have turned out any differently. BioWare strongly believes in storytelling and if you watch the trend of their games you will see they have gone from almost balancing gameplay with story to weighting more on the story then the game play.
This was why I was never excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic as an "MMO" all I expected from the rumor days to release was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic with multiplayer features and that just what I got. Heck at one point in time they all but admitted that's what it was going to be (back before they let their egos make them think they had a hit on their hands.) If EA is responsible for anything it's the hype machine but since when did a company at EA's level really know the type of game someone at BioWare's level was developing outside of staff meetings.
So yeah BioWare is at fault here, if there really is any fault in BioWare releasing a game that is purely Bioware. *shrugs*
I have to agree.
I'm a long time BW fan and as a Canadian have always felt some pride about this small local company hitting the big time.
Baldur's Gate and a few of their other early games were innovative and gave some new life to the single player CRPG. When I heard that they were getting into the MMO business I was excited and expected great innovative things from them there as well.
However, they chose an extremely conservative gameplay model that stuck firmly to the MMO conventions established over time by WOW and others: quest hubs, gear-grind, short scenario based PVP, unique gear-based PVP stats, etc. Sure the story and cut-scenes were innovative and, by and large, very well done. But the gameplay itself is old and stale.
In retrospect, I should have seen this coming since after Neverwinter Nights, BW changed directions and started to over-emphasize story in all of their games. I've continued to play them but I can't say I'm ever as excited about their new games now as I used to be back in their early days.
They've become a conservative gaming corporation mostly resting on their laurels. It's true in game design just like in all other types of human endeavour that, the unheralded and unrecognized upstart is always much more motivated and will try new things.
BW unfortunately has become the establishment--EA and BW suit each other very well at the moment.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
When the next great depression happens forum trolls will be the first to become extinct in this culture. Most are weak minded fat men and can only bitch about life rather than living it.
Blame Bioware for a poorly built and thought out game.
Blame EA for the early launch and deciding to put SwToR on maintenance mode.
Blame LA for whoring out Star Wars.
Hehe...pretty much this. The more mature mmo enthusiasts knew it was going to happen. Though those that scored this game with high marks acted like kids just eyeing up the newest shiney tricycle.
Blame Bioware for a poorly built and thought out game.
Blame EA for the early launch and deciding to put SwToR on maintenance mode.
Blame LA for whoring out Star Wars.
Hehe...pretty much this. The more mature mmo enthusiasts knew it was going to happen. Though those that scored this game with high marks acted like kids just eyeing up the newest shiney tricycle.
I wasn't around for the NGE but I was for closing SWG and LA was totally and utterly silent through the whole thing. Haven't heard a peep out of them good or bad on TOR since way before launch.
I don't think they are at all blameless for any of this. They always wanted a WoW killer but where are they now? Humm?
Comments
The blame's at senior management of former Bioware.
SWToR is the game that senior Bioware management designed before Bioware got acquired by EA. Bioware's studio in Austin was setup 2 years before EA acquired Bioware - hard to see how people can blame EA for something they had nothing to do with.
EA's fault was to buy Bioware from Elevation Partners for this completely crazy sum they paid for it, what was it, something like $700 or $800 million?
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
The international economic climate is pants. That's got to have an effect. The Euro is dying, debt ceiling in US of America emerging yet again soon, game company's in financial trouble, it all adds up.
If BW already held the Starwars licence when EA bought them, then that would explain the "completely crazy sum" that EA paid. Not to mention the fact that the "Bioware" brand name was huge. And added to that, BW do have some other little games in their portfolio, not only a Starwars MMO...
The "blame" goes to the majority of gamers in the genre.
Gamers "voted" WoW to be the greatest MMORPG to date with their (mums or dads) wallets and the result is this and will still be for some years to come.
I would say both. TBF gamers don't know what they really want. They claim they want a game different from WoW, but what they think they want is a game similar to WoW in mechanics but a different lore (at least that is what they think they want). Steve jobs, once said people don't know what they want until you give it to them (in product design at least), I think that is what is going on here.
Then the other problem are the publishers, they see WoW's numbers and they want a piece of that action. The problem is that WoW was an annomaly in the genre, it came out at the perfect time with enough mechanics to appeal to the casual gamers as compared to everquest, so it blow up into what it is.
The good thing about the recent failings of Rift and Swtor is that it will force the genre and publishers to stop trying to replicate the success of WoW with another WoW clone. If an IP like star wars couldn't beat WoW, then it a plus overrall for the genre.
SWTOR sucked due to game design issues, which is completely the developer's fault. The developer here is Bioware. However, EA purchased Bioware and then did there thing making Bioware all stupid and EAified so that they had little real recourse other than to release an awful game since they were too stupid and inept to make a good game.
Are you a Pavlovian Fish Biscuit Addict? Get Help Now!
I will play no more MMORPGs until somethign good comes out!
As much as EA is a magnet for nerd rage the blame lays squarely on the shoulders of BioWare, it was their decision to focus more of story then on gameplay and even if EA was not in the picture the game would not have turned out any differently. BioWare strongly believes in storytelling and if you watch the trend of their games you will see they have gone from almost balancing gameplay with story to weighting more on the story then the game play.
This was why I was never excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic as an "MMO" all I expected from the rumor days to release was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic with multiplayer features and that just what I got. Heck at one point in time they all but admitted that's what it was going to be (back before they let their egos make them think they had a hit on their hands.) If EA is responsible for anything it's the hype machine but since when did a company at EA's level really know the type of game someone at BioWare's level was developing outside of staff meetings.
So yeah BioWare is at fault here, if there really is any fault in BioWare releasing a game that is purely Bioware. *shrugs*
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
Lol, why would the "failings" of Rift and SWTOR have any particular influence on anything ?
Every MMO launched since WOW has "failed" (at least in the eyes of the MMORPG forum community, anyway).
Will SWTOR be the "last straw" ? Or is that camel's back a lot stronger than anticipated ?
Blame Bioware for a poorly built and thought out game.
Blame EA for the early launch and deciding to put SwToR on maintenance mode.
Blame LA for whoring out Star Wars.
I have to agree.
I'm a long time BW fan and as a Canadian have always felt some pride about this small local company hitting the big time.
Baldur's Gate and a few of their other early games were innovative and gave some new life to the single player CRPG. When I heard that they were getting into the MMO business I was excited and expected great innovative things from them there as well.
However, they chose an extremely conservative gameplay model that stuck firmly to the MMO conventions established over time by WOW and others: quest hubs, gear-grind, short scenario based PVP, unique gear-based PVP stats, etc. Sure the story and cut-scenes were innovative and, by and large, very well done. But the gameplay itself is old and stale.
In retrospect, I should have seen this coming since after Neverwinter Nights, BW changed directions and started to over-emphasize story in all of their games. I've continued to play them but I can't say I'm ever as excited about their new games now as I used to be back in their early days.
They've become a conservative gaming corporation mostly resting on their laurels. It's true in game design just like in all other types of human endeavour that, the unheralded and unrecognized upstart is always much more motivated and will try new things.
BW unfortunately has become the establishment--EA and BW suit each other very well at the moment.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I read somewhere, wish I could find it, that the original dev team for Bioware hasn't been there in years and were replaced by EA.
This happened with Warhammer Online, rushed out too soon at the crack of the management whip so... rinse and repeat.
When the next great depression happens forum trolls will be the first to become extinct in this culture. Most are weak minded fat men and can only bitch about life rather than living it.
"Originally posted by Fusion
The "blame" goes to the majority of gamers in the genre."
change that to the majority of the gamers in swtor.not the genre,alot of mmo players arent the same whiney crybabys you see on forums
Hehe...pretty much this. The more mature mmo enthusiasts knew it was going to happen. Though those that scored this game with high marks acted like kids just eyeing up the newest shiney tricycle.
I wasn't around for the NGE but I was for closing SWG and LA was totally and utterly silent through the whole thing. Haven't heard a peep out of them good or bad on TOR since way before launch.
I don't think they are at all blameless for any of this. They always wanted a WoW killer but where are they now? Humm?