Tetracast 350: RPG Site Direct

[@laidbackgamingcorner3205]

Amazing pun 48:38

[@borat656]

I have such bad feelings towards Bioware. Along with Bethesda, I feel like they are responsible for the perception that stat-based RPG mechanics can't exist in AAA games. There's no denying that ME2 and DA2 marked a definitive shift away from that style, and while ME2 is still beloved by many (and a good game at least), I've found their direction not only disagreeable, but loathsome for how it has impacted AAA RPGs. Is that Bioware's fault that the industry is so risk averse that most companies would rather just copy what came before? Not explicitly. And fortunately there was the Kickstarter CRPG renaissance, which resulted in the first AAA stat-heavy RPG since Dragon Age: Origins (which itself was super simplified in its mechanics compared to Bioware's previous works). Furthermore, everything that has come out of them since has ranged from mid to awful. ME3 fell under the weight of what it promised, Inquisition was 15 hours of good content wrapped up in 70 hours of open-world repetition, and then you have the mega let-downs that I won't bother getting into. Toss in a lot of their bad practices (Dragon Age 4 only avoided becoming a live-service game because Anthem failed, studio lay-offs, etc.), and it's easy to hate the company. But, that also feels so petty. Wanting a game to fail, wanting a company to fail, feels like you're rooting for bad things. "I hope Dragon Age 4 is bad" feels like a pathetic way to think. Yet, I also don't necessarily want it to be good, because in a way it rewards and reinforces a lot of the bad that Bioware has done. Especially now that BG3 has shown that stat-heavy games can absolutely find success, there's less reason than ever to wish ill on Bioware. But, despite knowing that they employ hundreds of people who have no input, people like myself who just work their jobs to survive, I still can't help but approach the Bioware label with the scorn of a jilted lover. In an ideal world I could enjoy what I enjoy while ignoring the bad, but emotions... well, they can be a right pain in the ass.