This actually sounds like the first Bioware game in ages that I would actually enjoy. I would love if you could have a branching, changing storline with some nice RPG action. I would love for...
Another former BioWare developer who worked on Joplin called it “some of the best work experiences” they’d ever had. “We were working towards something very cool, a hugely reactive game, smaller in scope than Dragon Age: Inquisition but much larger in player choice, followers, reactivity, and depth,” they said. “I’m sad that game will never get made.”
You’d play as a group of spies in Tevinter Imperium, a wizard-ruled country on the north end of Dragon Age’s main continent, Thedas. The goal was to focus as much as possible on choice and consequence, with smaller areas and fewer fetch quests than Dragon Age: Inquisition. (In other words, they wanted Joplin to be the opposite of the Hinterlands.) There was an emphasis on “repeat play,” one developer said, noting that they wanted to make areas that changed over time and missions that branched in interesting ways based on your decisions, to the point where you could even get “non-standard game overs” if you followed certain paths.
A large chunk of Joplin would center on heists. The developers talked about building systemic narrative mechanics, allowing the player to perform actions like persuading or extorting guards without the writers having to hand-craft every scene. It was all very ambitious and very early, and would have no doubt changed drastically once Joplin entered production, but members of the team say they were thrilled about the possibilities.
This actually sounds like the first Bioware game in ages that I would actually enjoy. I would love if you could have a branching, changing storline with some nice RPG action. I would love for Bioware, and much of the broader AAA game development industry really, to embrace more focus on narrative, player choice, and game design, over its current profit drive towards live services.
This really sucks that it sounds like EA pulled the rug from out from under them.
While reporting on Anthem, I kept hearing one interesting sentiment from current and former BioWare staff: They felt like the weirdos in EA’s portfolio, the guys and gals who made nerdy role-playing games as opposed to explosive shooters and big sports franchises. BioWare games never sold quite as well as the FIFAs and Battlefields of the world, so it never felt like they could get quite as many resources as their colleagues at other studios. High-ranking BioWare staff openly wondered: Did EA’s executives really care about narrative? Did they really care about RPGs? Those questions have always lingered, and still do today.
Man, this just sounds so rough and has to be demoralizing. It is really frustrating how EA and these other monster game studios keep scooping up promising development studios and then burning them out.
This actually sounds like the first Bioware game in ages that I would actually enjoy. I would love if you could have a branching, changing storline with some nice RPG action. I would love for Bioware, and much of the broader AAA game development industry really, to embrace more focus on narrative, player choice, and game design, over its current profit drive towards live services.
This really sucks that it sounds like EA pulled the rug from out from under them.
Man, this just sounds so rough and has to be demoralizing. It is really frustrating how EA and these other monster game studios keep scooping up promising development studios and then burning them out.