Posted April 16, 2011
Delixe: I'm rather happy about the sales. I was worried that it would be a success despite the changes especially on the consoles which would further push Bioware away from the PC. You can still see the thinly veiled insults in what Mike Laidlaw says.
As it stands PC gamers didn't like it and neither did console gamers. I know two people who only play consoles and I persuaded them to try DA:O and they loved it mainly because it was different. These are people who never heard of Baldur's Gate so unlike us they had nothing to compare DA:O to. They were equally appaled at the changes in DA2 and unlike us PC gamers they had the luxury of selling their copies to game stores, which they did further harming DA2's new sales.
The funny thing is the console players complained about exactly the same things we did. Repeated caves, boring quests, muddled plot, spawning enemies and complete lack of choice in the game. Laidlaw can say he simplified the game for console players but the evidence seems to be that the console players liked DA:O as much as we did and all they wanted was a technically better port and a less confusing interface.
Veiled insults ? The guys just basically told us to "stop whinning and play on hard" on that last interview ;) As it stands PC gamers didn't like it and neither did console gamers. I know two people who only play consoles and I persuaded them to try DA:O and they loved it mainly because it was different. These are people who never heard of Baldur's Gate so unlike us they had nothing to compare DA:O to. They were equally appaled at the changes in DA2 and unlike us PC gamers they had the luxury of selling their copies to game stores, which they did further harming DA2's new sales.
The funny thing is the console players complained about exactly the same things we did. Repeated caves, boring quests, muddled plot, spawning enemies and complete lack of choice in the game. Laidlaw can say he simplified the game for console players but the evidence seems to be that the console players liked DA:O as much as we did and all they wanted was a technically better port and a less confusing interface.
Laidlaw's theory that it's just (us) old farts making alot of noise because we can't handle change (wtf?) definitelly falls flat on its face when you realize that console players hated this game as much as PC players did, and i think the sales figures reflect just that.
Arrogance may have been part of what brought this disaster about. Laidlaw is definitely coming across as arrogant in those interviews and i remember Gaider taking a somewhat arrogant stance, not to say rude, in regards to people expressing concerns about all the changes before the game released. I think Gaider's road map to Acceptance stands as a testimony of Bioware's arrogance regarding DA2 and it's quite fittingt that the tables can now be turned and the fans can hand that very same road map to Bioware in regards to DA2's failure.
Maybe in the end this will teach them humility, and they'll remember that no matter how good you are if you stop trying you'll likely fail, and they didn't even tried this time around.
Post edited April 16, 2011 by Namur