Bioware seems to be pulling the plug on DA2

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http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/260/index/10245444

A post from Mark Darrah, Executive Producer of DAII

Spoiler

Hey everyone,

With last week marking the one year anniversary of the release of Dragon Age II, I wanted to take the time to share some news and some great milestones we’ve had lately with Dragon Age. And though I can’t say too much, I also want to briefly address what is coming in the future.

First, I was delighted to hear that the Dragon Age brand has passed one million “Likes” on Facebook! This was an incredible reminder for me, and our entire team, that there are a lot of you out there who are invested in the franchise and who want to explore the world more. From all of us, I want to send a massive thank you!

Next, the latest and greatest patch for DAII is out, addressing a number of the issues you have helped us track on our tech support forums. Thank you again to those of you who took the time to submit feedback in order to help us make the game better.

And finally, while we will still be keeping an eye out for any issues that might crop up in DAII and supporting the community should any emergencies should arise, we’re moving the entire team’s focus to the next phase of Dragon Age’s future.

You’ve most certainly heard the rumors floating around, and unfortunately I can’t really comment on them. However, what I can say is that we’ve been thinking a lot about Dragon Age – what it means, and where it could go. This past year, we’ve spent a lot of time both going back to the “BioWare vault” of games and re-examining them, and looking at some new possibilities that today’s industry allows.

With that, the next thing for the Dragon Age team members and I to do is hear from you, and not just on the forums, or Facebook, or Twitter. We’ll be attending a number of conventions and gatherings, including PAX East in April. The most valuable thing we can get out of those meetings is to hear from you on those same topics – what does Dragon Age mean to you, and where would you like to see it go? We’re excited to hear what you have to say!
On behalf of the entire team, we are incredibly eager to reach the moment when we can tell you more and show you where we are taking Dragon Age. But for now, thank you for your continued support, and we will be back here with more as soon as we can.

Thanks,
Mark

He mentions in the thread discussion that a planned expansion was cancelled. I wonder where they will go from here. Origins was so great. Such a shame to see DA2 sputtering into nothingness 1 year after release. :/

 

Crap game.

 

Worst Bioware game ever made.

 

I derived a fair amount of enjoyment from my single full playthrough of the game. But the main reason I gave it the level of focus I did was due to my love for Origins, and my hope that Bioware would capitalize on the winning formula they established with that game. When the dust settled on my playthrough, and I could fully digest what Dragon Age 2 was, and where it appeared to be heading... extreme disappointment set in.

Instead, they changed the formula in an apparent cash grab to gain a wider audience, but yes, in so doing they alienated a huge portion of their Origins and even longer time RPG fanbase. We don't want "action RPGs" we want true, pure roleplaying games in the spirit of Baldur's Gate. This is what Origins was, but DA2 wasn't. I think DA2 sold well enough, largely due to the excitement carried over from Origins (so many purchased this game on blind faith, figuring Bioware couldn't screw up a good thing), and they probably even pulled in a good number of casual console players too. But the alienation of the core fans of the series, and Bioware in general, was made all too clear when the DLCs stopped selling. Now the expansion has been killed. I hate to say it, but good.

Hopefully now Bioware sees that forsaking their core, longtime fans in hopes of "appealing to a wider audience" (at the expense of their core audience) is, well, a rather bad idea.

I really hope Bioware, and EA, have received that message and are developing their next project accordingly.

 

I was disappointed that EA and Bioware did not deliver on their promise to flush out Hawke's story, which was promised when Mark of the Assassin was released. Instead, they pull the plug. My guess is that are moving the DA2 resources over to DA3 development to push DA3 out the door faster since it now has been over a year since DA2 was released and EA likes to release updated games every year, so that means Bioware is behind with the likes of DA2.

I am hoping that is not the case, but after the reviews of ME3 and what Bioware did to DA2, it would not surprise me to see a more simplify game for DA3.

Bioware did something horrible to themselves when they let EA buy them out; they sold out to a company that care only about one thing, profits, and not their customers. It is a shame that I may now look for another company to produce the next great series of role playing games.

I heard that there is a developer working on BG series with Atari and WoC and most of their staff is from Bioware. Hmmm... I wonder why Bioware games are ok now and not great, the staff that built up their reputation have moved onto greener pastures.

Big company buyout of smaller companies usually mean lower quality product. We as consumers see time and time again. Bioware is just another example.

 

Hey there Munchkin Blender. Good to see you posting.

I agree with a lot of what you say about Bioware/EA. I can definitely say that you won't find me posting about how safe it is to preorder Dragon Age 3 on these boards as I did with Dragon Age 2. I had complete faith in Bioware prior to Dragon Age 2. Unfortunately, Bioware managed to all but destroy that.

It's not at all a given that I will purchase Dragon Age 3. I will wait, and look at the reviews very closely. If they don't go back to the formula that made Origins amazing, then it's likely that I'll be writing off Bioware for good.

I haven't bothered with Mass Effect 3 or any other Bioware game it quite some time.

As for Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, there's plenty of news about it on these boards, and a couple of new forums where it is being discussed. The project is being led by a number of original Bioware employees who worked on the original series, but it is not a Bioware project (thank god, I find myself wanting to say). It is essentially a remake of the original series with a number of improvements. I'm personally quite jazzed about it.

The ultimate goal of this project is to green-light a worthy Baldur's Gate 3 game, so so far, it's a whole lot of goodness.

 

You have to appreciate the amount of tact being employed by the people behind the project. BG3 is suddenly worth mentioning again, at least without some bitterness anyway.

 

I won't replay BG. That game will forever be remember as the best AD&D game created in my mind and the last of the great TSR games prior to WOC taking over.

As for DA; it is Bioware creation and they have an opprotunity to make a great series like BG if they can clean up the stink from DA2.