New "Bioware Austin" Studio

[Derella]

Bioware issued a press release (http://www.bioware.com/bioware_info/press_releases/2006_03_15_Austin/) announcing that they are opening a new studio in Austin, TX and that it is working on a MMORPG.

Here's a bit from the press release...

BioWare Austin has already begun work on a Massively Multiplayer Online roleplaying game (MMORPG) title; the new game will mark BioWare's debut in the Massively Multiplayer Online space. BioWare has recruited some of the top talent in MMO and RPG development, both to manage the development efforts at BioWare Austin and to collaborate with the experienced team at BioWare Edmonton, to develop a game that combines the best of BioWare's great past games with a compelling persistent online experience. Joining the Austin team as lead designer is James Ohlen, BioWare's Creative Director, whose previous credits include lead or co-lead design roles on Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Neverwinter Nights™, Baldur's Gate™ and Baldur's Gate II™. Also leading the BWA team are MMO veterans Richard Vogel and Gordon Walton. Richard Vogel brings 15 years of experience to BioWare Austin, previously serving as VP of Product Development for Sony Online Entertainment's Austin studio, as well as launching Ultima Online™ as a senior producer at Origin. Gordon Walton recently served as VP, studio manager and executive producer at Sony Online Entertainment as well as VP and Executive Producer at Electronic Arts.

[bKangy]

Frankly, I'm aroused.

[Stormwatcher]

Ok, I love Bioware, I like MMOGs, BUT PLEASE FINISH DRAGON AGE GOD DAMN IT!!!!
Do we really need MORE MMOGs?

[torrefaction]

Well, if anyone can topple Blizzard, it's probably Bioware. Here's to hoping for some innovation.

[Morrolan]

If they go after the WoW market, they deserve to fail. A successful company like Bioware has the cred and resources to innovate and still succeed. If they don't do that, I wish only failure upon them. After Jade Empire, I'm becoming doubtful of their ability to do anything other than a single, very specific, sort of game.

[Hugenex]

No! Not again, not another MMORPG.

[ezra]

Am the only person that really just has no interest in every playing an MMORPG?

[Tohoya]

Looking forward to seeing what bioware can do with the MMO market. Hopefully they won't pull another blizzard and just do a very, very polished version of the same thing.

[Heretic Machine]

I'll just restate what I said in the forum post...

===================================

Haven't enjoyed a Bioware game since NWN. They can keep their MMO.

===================================

Too many MMOs coming out, can't breath.............

I like Bioware, and they will probably make a good game, but this market is going to be totally over saturated, if it isn't all ready.

Good luck to em.

Well keep in mind, you don't have to have that many people playing an MMO to cut a profit. It's actually a very lucrative business. And I also don't think that there are too many, especially compared to JRPG's, FPS's, and RTS's.

[gzsfrk]

All I know is, if they could create an online massively-multiplayer KOTOR, then it would be the Star Wars MMO that I -hoped- Galaxies was going to be.

Also--why the hate for Jade Empire, Morrolan? I thought the game was excellent, and was certainly something "different" for Bioware. To be honest, Bioware is one of the few game companies of which I have little to nothing negative to say. (They had nothing to do with KOTOR2, right? =)

[Zurik]

Maybe he hated the controls, I know they drove me nuts. Everything felt choppy and "off" like there was some sort of lag delay.

[Kelegacy]

All I know is, if they could create an online massively-multiplayer KOTOR, then it would be the Star Wars MMO that I -hoped- Galaxies was going to be.

Also--why the hate for Jade Empire, Morrolan? I thought the game was excellent, and was certainly something "different" for Bioware. To be honest, Bioware is one of the few game companies of which I have little to nothing negative to say. (They had nothing to do with KOTOR2, right? =)

There was a LOT to dislike with Jade Empire. If you've ever played past Bioware RPGs, and I especially mean Baldur's Gate and its sequel, you can see why many people scoffed at their latest and lamest offering.

I'm in the boat that has no interest whatsoever in MMORPGs. I love RPGs, just not this brand of them. It's probably one of my most hated genres.

[Taco]

The market needs more good MMRPG's. I don't think the "too many MMO" complaints work, they nearly all suck.

Just don't make it like KOTOR or it's clones.

[Librum]

Hopefully they can be the ones who show us that an MMORPG doesn't have to be just a graphical update of a MUD. Blizzard went a little bit in that direction, though the core game design is still the same as a 20 year old text adventure game.

But the real question is: Do enough people _want_ an MMORPG that is truly different? And it can't just be different to be different, it has to be different and better.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, their past games have been among the best I've ever played.

[Sloth]

isn't gordon walton that asshat Abashi from EQ that use to insult customers and call them inferior to developers?

[Roc Ingersol]

I'll reserve any sort of enthusiasm until I hear the plan for the end-game.

Good luck to 'em, and here's to hoping it's not all raiding and RNG-determined gear upgrades.

[Taco]

Pretty sure it's not. Abashi was just a customer support stooge, which does not match up with Walton's background.

[Roc Ingersol]

isn't gordon walton that asshat Abashi from EQ that use to insult customers and call them inferior to developers?
Isn't EQ that game where the customers deserved it?
:p

EDIT: IIRC Gordon Walton was only at SOE for SWG:JLS.

[Oblivion]

A MMO without cheap timesinks, grinds, etc. A game so different that its not considered in the craptastic EQ spawned games . I want this. High expectations? Yeah, I want to have fun in an online game dammit!

[Heretic Machine]

isn't gordon walton that asshat Abashi from EQ that use to insult customers and call them inferior to developers?

...If he is, then we need to go to his house, drag him outside and then burn it down in front of him. I -HATE- old SoE staff. Those motherfuckers are the worst people I've ever heard of working in the MMO industry.

I remember one time, a GM started teleporting random people to these hostile gods, and then paralyzing them. When they died, they would summon them back and repeat the process all over again. Their equipment was lost, and they incurred massive death penalties.

SoE fired the GM, but they didn't care. That's as far as it went. No apology to the community was made.

[Taco]

Then there are people like me. Never had a problem. Once a bug caused my equipment to disappear. Petitioned a GM, told him what I had and he gave me everything back as well as 4 backbacks with double capacity.

I'm sure I'm the exception and the vocal fanbase for EQ was not made up of a bunch of raving idiots who would want to burn the house down of some CS schmuck making $10 an hour.

[PIPBoy3000]

I wonder if Bioware will end up making an MMORPG that incorporates some of the lessons learned with Neverwinter Nights. That is, there's potentially a vast community that likes to create content, some of which is pretty damned good. Furthermore, if that content creation is rewarded in-game, it might really encourage people to aspire to great things.

They're incorporating some of this into Spore, having the things other players create populate a vast universe and keeping things interesting. Wandering around a world that is constantly fresh and novel would be greatly appealing.

[Heretic Machine]

I wonder if Bioware will end up making an MMORPG that incorporates some of the lessons learned with Neverwinter Nights. That is, there's potentially a vast community that likes to create content, some of which is pretty damned good. Furthermore, if that content creation is rewarded in-game, it might really encourage people to aspire to great things.

You want to play Second Life. Or my personal graphical MUCK of choice: Furcadia (http://www.furcadia.com/). It's not for everyone, but content can be freely created and distributed. Second Life does a better job of this, but Furcadia has been around since before UO, so cut it some slack...

[GrinR]

KOTOR was one of the best CRPGs of all time. Saying it wasn't good just makes you sound crazy.

[Zeal]

This will own.

As did KOTOR and Jade Empire.

[Heretic Machine]

KOTOR was one of the best CRPGs of all time. Saying it wasn't good just makes you sound crazy.

If by CRPG, you mean a traditional RPG like Ultima or The Elder Scrolls, then no... it wasn't. Even if it were in the same genre (which it isn't) it still wouldn't even be comparable.

KOTOR is a nu*RPG, an invention of Bioware that is growing slowly. I hate them. I hate them more than JRPG's, which I can occassionally enjoy. They took the linearity of JRPG's, half-assed character creation, and then tacked on some dumbass 'good/evil' dialogue options which remind me quite a bit of the tacky implimentation of the same mechanic in Fable. The thing is, you don't get to be 'evil' in either of those games. You are 'good' or 'jerk', not evil. Add in the REPETITIVE areas, and you have a recipe for mediocrity.

[Taco]

KOTOR was one of the best CRPGs of all time. Saying it wasn't good just makes you sound crazy.

Saying it was one of the best games of all time just.....

Nope, I can't think of anything that insults ones taste with a great enough magnitude.

And stop this nu*RPG crap, this is not a musical genre. It's a glorified Diablo clone, with less content and interesting things.

[gzsfrk]

Just don't make it like KOTOR or it's clones.

Why not? I guess it's possible that KOTOR1 wasn't to your taste either because of story or gameplay mechanic (the only bad thing I had to say about it was some ridiculous and too-frequent load times on the ol' Xbox). But it seems to me like the game (both storyline/universe and engine) would be an excellent fit for an MMO. Skip all the bullcrap in the original Galaxies release and go straight to the meat of the game. (The vast majority of people don't to play for 6 months solid just to get a chance at becoming a Jedi. </rant>)

Now KOTOR2.... ouch. Don't want to talk about that one. :)

The thing to keep in mind is, KOTOR was (imo) great because of the story. The engine was good, the graphics were OK, the voice acting was above average, but the story was really excellently done (and the incomplete story was really where KOTOR2 ultimately fell short of greatness and instead languished in mediocrity). That's something the even WoW hasn't managed to accomplish, since the game world never really changes to accomodate any kind of ongoing story. I'd say the first MMO that offers a truly dynamic, player-action-driven world that also has the same polish and level of user-friendly interface that WoW has will have an excellent shot at taking the crown from Blizz in the next generation.

Of course I know it's not going to happen, though; no way LucasArts (or SOE) would allow there to be two SW MMOs on the market at one time.

Of course, I seem to remember reading that KOTOR3 is likely to have an online multiplayer feature, so maybe I'll be more or less getting my wish after all. :)

[easi]

Stop making MMOs.

[DaedalusFolly]

I'm with Perigon on KOTOR, atleast to a certain degree. The only real significant thing, IMO, that you could do in KOTOR that affected the game was kill that jedi girl or let her join your party. Having three jedi in your party during the Sith Academy phase certainly made it easier. Other that that, you simply got slightly different dialogue and a few less/more credits here and there.

However, I enjoyed the game alot... but I won't jump in line to give handjobs to Bioware employees like alot of net denizens. ;)

[Kelegacy]

KOTOR was one of the best CRPGs of all time. Saying it wasn't good just makes you sound crazy.
Didn't say it wasn't good. But compared to the TRUE best CRPGs of all time, it pales noticeably.

This will own.

As did KOTOR and Jade Empire.

Does anyone else think that Zeal was born with bowels in his skull and brains near his ass? You have to be the most backasswards gamer I know, going by your flames/praise ratio.

[Taco]

Was speaking more about the gameplay, gzsfrk. Still, I'm kind of sick of the whole Star Wars world :).

In the end the Jedi is the end all be all of everything, magic, combat and social grace, what's the point? Tends to strip away a lot of choice and combat/skill dynamics. If you dumb down the Jedi or you artificially enchance other classes you are killing a very large part of the Star Wars universe and suspending disbelief.

I'd prefer an original Sci-Fi setting I think, with classes and skills designed from the ground up.

[Deadend]

All they have to do is make it so that dialoge with NPCs exist at all. Other than "accept/decline mission". Really, I want the game to let me have some more chances to make words. D&D:online did this a little bit. But I am hoping for Bioware dialoge trees of infinity.

And turn based combat. Dear god I hate D&D:O's clickfest.

[Heretic Machine]

And turn based combat.

By it's very nature, this does not work in an MMO.

[BioGeorg]

Stop making MMOs.

Relax, it's a new studio. Nobody is going to take things away from you.

[Roc Ingersol]

By it's very nature, this does not work in an MMO.
c'mon, you sayin it didn't work for Dark Sun Online? ;)

Dan

[Lord Dongkey]

Hm...

Personally, I enjoyed Jade Empire quite a bit. Wasn't the best game I've played in the last two years, but was definately up there... shit, it was one of the few games I actually FINISHED.

And you know, it's not like I'm just getting old or the genre is played out, as far as RPG's go... I still replay FFIV and FFVI, FFVII, Suikoden I and II, Dragon Warrior games, periodically. Most BioWare crap really kinda annoyed me - I've started and failed to play Baldur's Gate about five times now... the game's just too damned slow and non-engaging to really make me take notice. Morrowind fell into the same boat for me - I played it for a long damned time and never did get around to beating it, even having started and restarted it several times... games need to be engaging, and most of them aren't.

Now that I've rambled... I'm done.

[destoo]

Who can back that nu*rpg term? I can't find it on google (because it doesn't index wildcard characters) and I haven't seen anything on either wiki or e2 or even Bioware's site.

[Apex]

As far as MMO's go I think Eve is the only decent one out there. WoW I personally think is totally overrated, I've played all the MMOs and Wow just doesnt grab me at all. It's just streamlined standard MMO content in the Warcraft universe made easily accessible to new players. Of the WoW players I know I'd say half are new to MMO's, thats quite alot.

Bioware, now if they essentially made Baldurs Gate 2: The MMO i'd sign up for a life subscription :D. I think Bioware, with their last few titles, have lost a bit of what made them so great. So I know I'll be watching this news with interest.

[Kem0sabe]

Everyone seems to be so fixated in Kotor that they forget that Bioware created Baldurs Gate 2, wich to me is by far the greatest game i ever had the pleasure of playing.

These were the guys that should have made D&DO and not those incompetent pricks at Turbine.

[Heretic Machine]

Who can back that nu*rpg term? I can't find it on google (because it doesn't index wildcard characters) and I haven't seen anything on either wiki or e2 or even Bioware's site.

That's because I coined the term.

[Royal Fool]

Everyone seems to be so fixated in Kotor that they forget that Bioware created Baldurs Gate 2, wich to me is by far the greatest game i ever had the pleasure of playing.

These were the guys that should have made D&DO and not those incompetent pricks at Turbine.

Kotor was alright, Kotor 2 was more of the same. Jade Empire was very average.

Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment all single-handedly smash those games with a +12 Hackmaster.

[DoubleUranium]

Every Bioware thread the same people bitch about the same things.

[Kelegacy]

Kotor was alright, Kotor 2 was more of the same. Jade Empire was very average.

Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment all single-handedly smash those games with a +12 Hackmaster.

Bioware didn't make Icewind Dale, nor Planescape. Black Isle did, and they rocked just as much as Bioware, if not harder, back in the day.

BioGeorg should show up soon to make me feel bad about buggering his company again. I do it out of love, Georg, honest.

[Jengaaa]

Last bioware game I played was Baldur's Gate 2. That and baldur's gate were amazing.

I played kotor for a few hours on xbox at a friends house, and I couldn't get into it. I think it was the controls/camera. I don't know. I won't say it was a bad game or anything, but when it was out for pc, I felt like I wasn't enthralled enough by the xbox version to grab it. I'm sure it's really good.

That said, I don't like MMORPGs. At all. I've tried MMO after MMO trying to understand the appeal, but I've given up. However, if reception to this shows that it's innovative, I'll probably grab it if just because it's bioware.

[Frogleg Special]

So this is for PC right? Has Dragon Age turned into a MMO? :(

[drakkarim]

all i can say is make it very solo friendly, otherwise i (personally) won't give a shit from get-go.

[Tohoya]

There was a LOT to dislike with Jade Empire. If you've ever played past Bioware RPGs, and I especially mean Baldur's Gate and its sequel, you can see why many people scoffed at their latest and lamest offering.

I'm in the boat that has no interest whatsoever in MMORPGs. I love RPGs, just not this brand of them. It's probably one of my most hated genres.

can you elaborate on "a lot?" I thought JE was just as good as Baldur's Gate and KOTOR.

[Royal Fool]

Bioware didn't make Icewind Dale, nor Planescape. Black Isle did, and they rocked just as much as Bioware, if not harder, back in the day.

BioGeorg should show up soon to make me feel bad about buggering his company again. I do it out of love, Georg, honest.

You're right of course, but they did have a tiny part in their making since they created the engine for them. I simply mentioned those games since they're part of the all-star RPGs of yesteryear. Let's not forget Fallout.

[Kelegacy]

can you elaborate on "a lot?" I thought JE was just as good as Baldur's Gate and KOTOR.
The damaged battle engine, extreme linearity, the Arena and its infamous load times, length, the near carbon-copy good/evil KotOR style, very limited exploration.

That's just stuff off the cuff. Don't get me wrong, the game was fun. And I think most of my "hate" comes from not playing the game for awhile. I can think back now and remember the feel of the game and how I was pretty happy with it, but compared to other Bioware efforts it just wasn't as stellar. But it's hard when you've already set the bar so high in your development house's youth. If Bioware started with JE, then went to KotOR, on to NWN and the Baldur's Gate games, that would be natural progression in terms of quality and content. But it's the complete opposite.

I used to be a Bioware fanboy, but their move to the consoles ruined that a bit for me, especially after seeing the results. Still a phenomenal dev house, though. I'm so far removed from them at this point that I can't even remember their upcoming 360 game, something starting with an M. I'm not even really interested anyway...I'm more interested in what Obsidian or whoever is going to do with Baldur's Gate III.

[51|RandoM]

All I know is, if they could create an online massively-multiplayer KOTOR, then it would be the Star Wars MMO that I -hoped- Galaxies was going to be.


You hoped galaxies was going to be a universe populated with the same 5 NPC faces? Please.

KOTOR didn't even have enough detail/complexity to be a PC RPG game.

I gave NWN a passing grade, barely, but KOTOR and JE are both bottom feeding lowbrow console fare that don't deserve the title RPG.

[bean19]

Austin huh. . . I wonder if they are going to get published by NCSoft.

[laggerific]

When I read the news, I instantly thought that Richard Garriot had merged with them. Isn't he in Austin and isn't he working on an MMORPG? Without having read the article, jjust the headline grabbing news portion this is what I thought about.

[DubiousQuality]

First post here, have been a fan of EA for years now but I'm more of the lurker type than the post alot type. Having been a huge Bio fan for years now I felt the need to chime in. If any company can come out in a flooded MMO market thats mainly full of crap and put something fun and innovative its Bioware. Personally I've never understood the high praise Blizzard gets, since imho all they've ever done is rip off other companies and over hype and market products then fail to really deliver.

Take Diablo2 for a prime example, a good 60% of the things promised never made the final game, it was way too long in dev cycle and quite honestly looked like crap on release.

Bioware has a history of making great RPG's, sure not all of them are up there with BG or BG2, I do agree Jade Empire did lack quite a bit in the game play department but story wise I thought it was pretty well done. I think NWN's development taught them alot about what works and what doesn't when it comes to designing a good system to go on, tough to do especially when working with a 3rd parties license (ie WoTC) as I'm sure they weren't allowed to do everything they wanted to.

I have high hopes for this project and hope they manage to pull it off, also I'd love to see WoW and Blizzard get dethroned for merely putting out EQ set in the Warcraft universe, Cuz quite frankly if I wanted to play as an orc I'd play Warhammer considering Warcraft is such a WH ripoff to begin with.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

Is it just me, or wouldn´t you rather have a Lead Coder, Art director from a company than a producer, or senior producer from that same company? Producers just guide/interrupt and eat fancy meals....

[Kem0sabe]

I actualy like Kotor 2 better than i liked kotor 1, the story was more involving and they characters were excelent. If obsidian had time to fleshout the last planet and the way the game ended, then i would have been a remarkable game ^^

[president_fred]

Everyone seems to be so fixated in Kotor that they forget that Bioware created Baldurs Gate 2, wich to me is by far the greatest game i ever had the pleasure of playing.
Just thought I would quote this for emphasis. BG1+2, Fallout 1+2 and planescape torment are the greatest fucking CRPG games (BG2 possibly just the best period) I have played, Kotor was ok but it was like fucking a thermos filled with mince-meat after spending several years sleeping with the most beautiful ladies in the world. I forget how the rest of this goes but your mothers a whore.

[Paltry]

all i know is i am officially sick of wow... i started up guildwars again the other day, maybe thatll keep my eye.... hope bioware does good

[Stormwatcher]

I really like both kotor games, even though they're not as awesome as BG series... But that is true for 99% of the games. And saying that they're "bottom feeding lowbrow console fare that don't deserve the title RPG" is like having a certificate of magna cum laude assholeness framed on your wall, with your name written on it with crap-colored letters.