But there’s nothing wrong with building on a good, existing constructed world, too. They can do both. You mentioned publishers that did that quite successfully, at the top of this thread: Owlcat, Paradox, and especially Larian.
It’s also quite practical from a development perspective. It’s easier to pitch to get funding, they already have lore experts on the team, mechanics they don’t have to invent from scratch.
I’m just not buying that Mass Effect is a “dead end.” It’s a great setting, there’s tons to explore, and they’ve already broken away from the main trap of being stuck with Sheperd. Halo is a bit different not because they wrote themselves into a corner (which ME aid also guilty of), but that they utterly refused to leave it, amongst other things.
I will say that I think BioWare just deteriorated.
…There’s no getting around that, whether they start from scratch or not.
I have the same opinion of Halo. I vividly remember forming it upon playing Halo 4, with how cheesy it felt.
But there’s nothing wrong with building on a good, existing constructed world, too.
I don’t disagree. But folks are pretending like Mass Effect is some kind of exceptionally novel or revolutionary IP. It’s really not. This is some really basic tier SciFi. You could scratch the serial numbers off the side and make “Enlarged Consequences” with no real threat of liability.
I’m just not buying that Mass Effect is a “dead end.” It’s a great setting, there’s tons to explore, and they’ve already broken away from the main trap of being stuck with Sheperd. Halo is a bit different not because they wrote themselves into a corner (which ME aid also guilty of), but that they utterly refused to leave it, amongst other things.
I mean, I don’t disagree entirely. I just think the core ideas of Mass Effect have percolated through the genre of open world space adventure game. And now we’ve got a plethora of alternatives that strike the same central cords. You don’t need the Mass Effect IP to make a successor to the game any more than you needed the Halo IP to make Destiny.
If I’m going to be sad about anything, it’s really the Dragon Age IP, which I think was cooking with something a bit more novel than “Evil Aliens Exterminate Humanity While Humans and Demi-Humans Bicker Over Politics”.
Now “Evil Dragons Exterminate Humanity While Humans and Demi-Humans Bicker Over Politics”! There’s a keeper
Look. I’m all for a new world.
But there’s nothing wrong with building on a good, existing constructed world, too. They can do both. You mentioned publishers that did that quite successfully, at the top of this thread: Owlcat, Paradox, and especially Larian.
It’s also quite practical from a development perspective. It’s easier to pitch to get funding, they already have lore experts on the team, mechanics they don’t have to invent from scratch.
I’m just not buying that Mass Effect is a “dead end.” It’s a great setting, there’s tons to explore, and they’ve already broken away from the main trap of being stuck with Sheperd. Halo is a bit different not because they wrote themselves into a corner (which ME aid also guilty of), but that they utterly refused to leave it, amongst other things.
I will say that I think BioWare just deteriorated.
…There’s no getting around that, whether they start from scratch or not.
I have the same opinion of Halo. I vividly remember forming it upon playing Halo 4, with how cheesy it felt.
I don’t disagree. But folks are pretending like Mass Effect is some kind of exceptionally novel or revolutionary IP. It’s really not. This is some really basic tier SciFi. You could scratch the serial numbers off the side and make “Enlarged Consequences” with no real threat of liability.
I mean, I don’t disagree entirely. I just think the core ideas of Mass Effect have percolated through the genre of open world space adventure game. And now we’ve got a plethora of alternatives that strike the same central cords. You don’t need the Mass Effect IP to make a successor to the game any more than you needed the Halo IP to make Destiny.
If I’m going to be sad about anything, it’s really the Dragon Age IP, which I think was cooking with something a bit more novel than “Evil Aliens Exterminate Humanity While Humans and Demi-Humans Bicker Over Politics”.
Now “Evil Dragons Exterminate Humanity While Humans and Demi-Humans Bicker Over Politics”! There’s a keeper
Wherever those BioWare employees land, they should do fantasy space opera, like Shadowrun. With that premise. In space.
Make it Bioware-y, with drama and sexy elves and armor lights and lens flare.
Both for something fresh, but also to spite EA.
I would love that