Bioware

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This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

(Note, the above table is not fully accurate. For example, regarding Mass Effect, you also have to travel to the planet Ilos and the Citadel space station. Though this example could have been left out due to the spolieriffic nature of those two).

A major computer game studio primarily driven by two lead designers; their names are Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.

One of the most popular RPG game makers of modern day, making titles such as Baldur's Gate (actually the just published that, Black Isle studios made that), Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. They are currently working on making a Warhammer Fantasy MMORPG. During the early 2000s, Bioware was bought by EA and since then their games have been slowly declining in quality, and they have also been getting massive amounts of (often) bullshit and terrible DLC.

The Rise and Fall of Bioware

Mass Effect

An example of this would be the Mass Effect series. The original was a masterpiece, with characters, story and presentation (usually) top-notch; the graphics and gameplay could be awkward and clunky at times (ie; aiming sniper rifles) it was still good. There was a gripping DLC mission, "Bring Down the Sky" which involved stopping an anti-human Batarian terrorist from using an asteroid to destroy the human colony of Terra Nova. Of course, while you did have to pay for it in the past (Now it's free), Bring Down the Sky had very little in the way of the story as a whole, so even if you missed out on it, you aren't really missing out on the plot. But then, EA realized this wouldn't make them money, so they turned up the antee in ME2. It also had Pinnacle Station, which... existed.

Mass Effect 2 was a great game though it did, debatably, show a drop in character and story development compared to the first game. To be fair, ME1 had lots of characters, and it's the job of a good sequel to continue the story while fleshing out existing characters and introducing new ones. ME2 accomplished both, though some characters were better developed than others. At the very least, while most of the minor characters didn't get fleshed out too much, your squadmates get the full package. Also, there's only so much data you can put on a disk, and ME2 still required TWO DISKS to fit in all the content. Of course, in regards to DLC, EA really left their mark. While the minor DLCs (Weapon and armor sets, a old veteran merc out for revenge and a master kleptomaniac thief as squadmates, plus an optional story that involves you trying to shut down a rogue AI/Human hybrid before it sets off a technological apocalypse) were passable, EA took out two things that should have been in the original game: being able to drive vehicles (A hover-IFV this time) in short side missions, and two stories that heavily influences the plot of the next game (Liara taking over the Shadow Broker's position and the Reapers' arrival). Overall however, if you don't mind those 3 things, ME2 is still full of boundless amusement from the multitude of ways you can approach the story. (On a side note, Mass Effect 2 was the first video game that let you carry over saved data from a pervious game to effect the plot of the current game).

Mass Effect 3, while it had some good elements, was a big step down from the first two. Some of the biggest complaints are that it rendered several choices from the first two games redundant, such as whether or not you perform genocide on a supposedly extinct race in ME1 and whether you saved or destroyed the Genophage cure acquired through unethical research in ME2. Also, story-essential characters were reduced to DLC. The first was the sole-survivor of a race thought to be extinct and even then, said character should have been included in the game by default anyway, given how very little the game came with in the first place. The second was the remnants of the Reapers' creators, who you were forced to ally with despite the fact that they were obviously evil. Surprisingly the game never addresses the fact that, once the Reapers are defeated, their creators will try to take over the galaxy again, something the previous games would have addressed. The most hated part was the sub-par ending that requires DLC to make a modicum of sense (and even then the ending is still bollocks and still made little-to-no sense when you add up your whole journey from ME1 to ME3).

Some say the series is in the process of devolving into a Gears of War clone with more dialog, complete with multiplayer mode. There is even talk of Bioware they're making a sequel, even though they haven't even resolved the main plot to the original trilogy in a way that makes sense and is not just the most literal example of a deus ex machina ever written coming out of absolutely nowhere, spouting bullshit that invalidates the entire plot of the trilogy up to that point, and forces you to choose from three equally unappealing outcomes that have nothing to do at all with the rest of the game. Instead, the writers just decided to call their consumers idiots who wouldn't know a good story if it hit them on the head (and still insist that the people who hated the ending were a small minority in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary). Ironically Gears of War ended up being being better than Mass Effect in regards to story. Everything has a clear set up, (ex the secret third faction was hinted at in the first game) The story ending weapon works the way its said to and the ending was clear.

Dragon Age

Dragon Age is a more blatant example of this degradation. While far from being the grimdark spiritual successor that Bioware hyped it as, the story of Dragon Age: Origins was above average and possessed an interesting character creation mechanic where your background changed numerous parts of the storyline, the character development was good- but evidence that things were starting to fall apart were obvious right when you met the questgiver who forced you to buy a DLC pack if you actually wanted to do the quest. The "expansion pack" Awakening wasn't too bad either, at least if you ignored the fact that it had been visibly rushed and was loaded with gamebreaking bugs. Dragon Age II was the final nail in the coffin- the story veered from one plot thread to the next without any rhyme or reason while being completely disconnected to the previous game, all the major characters were either idiots, one-dimensional, or just plain unlikeable, and the gameplay consisted of running through the same reskinned dungeons over and over again, all problems exacerbated by the fact that their corporate overlords had them rushing the game out in less than a year, in their endless quest to have all their properties work like the Madden and FIFA games they're used to making. Dragon Age III's developers have openly announced that the game would be "heavily influenced by" (read: a ripoff of) Skyrim, which says a lot about how far they've fallen.

So in short, if you want a good Bioware game, look to the past.