What do you think about BioWare and their games?

[Ack]

Oh yeah, BioWare. Mass Effect was a pretty fun TPS. My Shep would kick your ass with her shotgun. Jade Empire was ok, about on par with some Shaw Brothers classics.

But Baldur's Gate is amazing. End of conversation.

[MrEco]

I've only played two Bioware games to date, and neither one managed to hold my interest to the end.

The first was Dragon Age: Origins. I liked the characters in that game, I enjoyed the combat, and of course the writing was good. But the story of the game and the lore of the world in it didn't interest me at all. On top of that, everything felt way too "gamey." The world felt stale and artificial, much more than any Bethesda game I've played. Everything about the NPCs and the layout of the environments was, by my standards, just awful because of how mechanical it felt instead of natural. In the end, I could never get immersed in DA:O. And immersion is practically a necessity for me to stick with a game to the end when it's as long as most RPG's are. I still played DA:O for about 20-30 hours before finally putting it down, because I wanted to stick with the characters. But it quickly became a matter of going through the motions, following quest markers to the groups of enemies that need killing, and I ultimately lost interest.

The next Bioware game I played was the original Neverwinter Nights. That one didn't last nearly as long. Only about an hour. That might sound like I didn't give it a fair chance, and I'm willing to admit I could have probably stuck with it longer to see if it got better. But I ran into the exact same problems I had with DA:O. An artificial feeling world with robotic NPC's and a very boring plot from what I saw. There was nothing to pull me into the games world, and this time I didn't even have a party of interesting side characters to adventure with. I had a feeling it wasn't going to get any better, so I ultimately cut it short rather than risk wasting my time.


I haven't given up on Bioware though. Mostly because I still own a bunch of games from them that I've never played. Before ever playing DA:O I managed to gather several games made by Bioware including both KotOR's, Jade Empire, the Mass Effect Trilogy, both Neverwinter Nights, and both Baldur's Gate games. RPG's are my favorite genre, Bioware has a very well known pedigree, and all of those games wen't on sale for very good prices at one time or another, so it only seemed natural to pick them up while I could. I admit, I'm a bit nervous, I don't want to have essentially "wasted" the money I spent on those if it turns out I don't like any of them. It's a possibility that Bioware's style just isn't for me. But I think that's very unlikely. With all those games, across that huge time span, I can't imagine they'll all turn me off. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which ones I'll enjoy.

[Forlorn Drifter]

I've played through the Mass Effect trilogy and I personally loved it, with 2 being my favorite of the three. The first was a bit unpolished, although I like how it was closer to an RPG. While I did like the Mako sections, they quickly got stale with how similar they were. 3 felt a little too streamlined to me, and the sidequests weren't up to the same level as the other two games.

Saying that, I'd like to dive into some of their other games. I've been considering picking up the Baldur's Gate games, but unless they can be played mostly with the mouse I doubt I'll pick them up. I assume it's similar to Fallout, but I have no idea to be honest.

[Exhuminator]

I've been considering picking up the Baldur's Gate games, but unless they can be played mostly with the mouse I doubt I'll pick them up.

The Baldur's Gate games (and all the Infinity Engine games actually) can be played fully with the mouse. But liberal use of the space bar is recommended, although you could map that to the mouse I suppose. If you are a lover of D&D you should enjoy them. If you don't care for D&D, I doubt you'll have a good time.

[MrPopo]

I think Baldur's Gate could be enjoyed even if you aren't a fan of D&D (though if you hate D&D that's a different matter), but Icewind Dale definitely comes down to how much you enjoy the AD&D combat system (or D&D 3rd if you play the sequel).

[Exhuminator]

I'm just saying some folks can't handle invisible dice rolls is all.

[MrPopo]

I've found more people get freaked out by visible dice rolls. They start seeing a bunch of numbers and have bad flashbacks to math class. And the invisible rolls in Baldur's Gate aren't any worse than Morrowind's. Hell, I'd say Morrowind is worse because you see your character actually swing and hit something but the game rolls failure. At least with Baldur's Gate you understand that them swinging at each other is a visual abstraction.

Fallout is mouse driven, so that's an option, though the interface can be clunky at times. It's also not a Bioware game. Another option if you want something a bit more modern and approachable is Dragon Age, which is Bioware. You can do everything with the mouse there, although I found that moving my characters around the world was easier with WASD and using the mouse for attacking, selecting skills, and navigating menus. And of course there's KOTOR, which does require you to move with WASD but use the mouse for selecting and interacting with things in the world, and is another Bioware game.

[Forlorn Drifter]

I've been considering picking up the Baldur's Gate games, but unless they can be played mostly with the mouse I doubt I'll pick them up.

The Baldur's Gate games (and all the Infinity Engine games actually) can be played fully with the mouse. But liberal use of the space bar is recommended, although you could map that to the mouse I suppose. If you are a lover of D&D you should enjoy them. If you don't care for D&D, I doubt you'll have a good time.

I was mostly wondering because I'm currently laptopping it and my hand thing. I can handle spacebar use. I'm thinking because of how my schedule is next semester, I might get some use out of my laptop playing on campus between classes, seeing as an hour and a half gap isn't enough to really go home. I know next to nothing about D&D, but I figure I might like it. I agree with Popo that seeing the dice actually rolling might screw with my head.

Fallout is mouse driven, so that's an option, though the interface can be clunky at times. It's also not a Bioware game. Another option if you want something a bit more modern and approachable is Dragon Age, which is Bioware. You can do everything with the mouse there, although I found that moving my characters around the world was easier with WASD and using the mouse for attacking, selecting skills, and navigating menus. And of course there's KOTOR, which does require you to move with WASD but use the mouse for selecting and interacting with things in the world, and is another Bioware game.

I already have Fallout. I was just asking if it was comparable in that you can mostly use the mouse. Dragon Age always looked kind of meh to me. KOTOR is a possibility, but I'd have to hook up a controller, my hand issues haven't gotten any better.

[Exhuminator]

I meant that some people get pissed off when they click to attack a monster and they keep missing but have no idea why. The why being that there are invisible dice rolls being simulated behind the scene in code. The solving being that you understand D&D and realize certain attributes of your character are too low to score hits on that monster because of THAC0 and shit.

[Ack]

I meant that some people get pissed off when they click to attack a monster and they keep missing but have no idea why. The why being that there are invisible dice rolls being simulated behind the scene in code. The solving being that you understand D&D and realize certain attributes of your character are too low to score hits on that monster because of THAC0 and shit.

If I recall correctly, you also have the ability in the Game Options menu to show dice rolls.