BioWare Mondays
It was announced a while ago that the first real expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic would be coming out at some point this Spring. Entitled Rise of the Hutt Cartel, it will introduce a new planet, new characters, higher level caps, and new storyline elements to the belagured, now-free-to-play MMORPG, including the emergence of the Hutt Cartel as more…active players in the theatre of galactic war. Oh, and new gear too.
For those of you that care about such matters, The Old Republic will also be introducing same-sex romances, in keeping with most other recent BioWare titles that have featured romantic subplots. Which, evidently, took a lot more work than expected to implement. More “organic” PvP is also in the works.
Oh, and a new trailer for SWTOR’s free-to-play side was released a while back. And producer Jeff Hickman released the second “state of the game” address just recently.
Joystiq listed Mass Effect 3 as one of their “Best of 2012”, albeit not in the top slot (I think it came in 9th, or possibly 8th, actually). GameInformer, meanwhile, labeled it their Game of the Year (and also “Best Narrative” in an RPG), and Gamasutra listed it amongst the 50 games that defined 2012. (SWTOR is also on that list, by the way.) Oh, and LazyGamer awarded ME3 their “Best RPG” prize. Kotaku, meanwhile, praised its concept art, and at least one of their editors listed it amongst his top ten games of 2012.
Edge Online, meanwhile, opined that Mass Effect 3, in 2012, heralded a new age of player entitlement, raising the spectre of the ending controversy once more, while ScienceFiction.com offered up brief retrospectives on both that and the resignation of Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk.
Forbes, taking things in a bit of a different direction, and also citing the ending controversy, listed Mass Effect 3 amongst the most disappointing games of 2012.
Over at Gaming Illustrated, there’s an editorial on what Dragon Age 3 might learn from Skyrim. PC Gamer, meanwhile, are just generally eager to see it, optimistic as they are about a 2013 release date.
My dad taught me a lesson long ago that even today I don’t always remember until it smacks me in the face: doing anything of value always takes more work and time than you think it will. Someone should chisel “Ten Observations” into stone tablets that include this seemingly universal bit of wisdom and email Bioware a photo of it. Bioware in turn may submit it to fans in response to why features don’t appear at the snap of a finger. Or maybe schoolkids should be forced to take a programming class in high school and create a working game to pass. It ain’t easy.
Same-sex romance options in SWTOR means lots of new voice work. Voice actors are expensive and the game isn’t as profitable as expected.
Apparently it also means restricting gay characters to a gay planet:
http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/01/14/156216/bioware-launches-gay-planet-for-the-old-republic
Crazy, and while I’m not gay, it strikes me as slightly offensive. Imagine if all females, or black people or whatever, could only exhibit those traits on a designated planet. I’m sure BioWare isn’t trying to offend people and there was (hopefully) some technical reason for this, but it doesn’t seem right on first consideration.