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[ExarKun]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone ever played the first one? It orignally was for 360 and then PC, good game, was curious cause the second one is coming next month and I am stoked, wondering if anyone played it.

For those that don't know it, it's a Sci Fi RPG/TPS. It is sort of a space epic and was loads of fun, very well done by Bioware.

[JuntaJoe]

Morrowind in space?

[ExarKun]

JuntaJoe wrote: Morrowind in space?

It is not quite as open ended as that, and the story is a human one of such, that while there is aliens, character customization is based on humans only.

Think of this as more Star Trek meets Firefly with the writers of Total Recall.

[JuntaJoe]

I liked the open choice directing of Morrowind. With a pile of mods you could make it last for months and still be fresh.

[ExarKun]

Sadly this wasn't like some of Bioware's other games, like Neverwinter Nights, which was so easy to mod everyone had them too. If you are looking for a new RPG that is shorter than the Elder Scroll games but just as fun and can be modded to add new things, I suggest Dragon Age: Origins, made by Bioware as well.

It is a recent game, came out in November, but it was very fun and reminiscent of old D&D games.

[JuntaJoe]

Shorter? No, I want to pack the game as big as I can.


Remember in Morrowind it was just that big island, but other earlier editions referred to different places on that world. Later when Oblivion came they placed right across the sea from the island, even though there was no in-game connection. But with all the ES games together they had a number of places on a vast continent that they ignored what was in between. But imagine the full continent game! Hell, there would be so much content you might skip buying a lot of other games simply to stick with the big one as long as there is something new to do in it.


I always felt that a company like Blizzard or Bethesda could create a vast continental template and fill it with just a lot of exciting geography and a small section of populated world. They also make sure it has a very robust and user friendly game editor. Then they release it and set up a unique support team that will run a fan site geared to just mods. If a mod comes in that they feel will go well in the game and isn't unbalanced they get the mod maker to sign a release for it. Then it goes onto an annual update disc they sell for $15. They offer the mod maker accreditation on the disc as a contract designer, send him a free copy of the annual release, and toss in a gimme like a T-Shirt.

So instead of the usual multi-year investment to get the entire game right before initial release they get to crank out the premier template faster and cheaper. Then they don't have to work 3 or 4 years just to get out a couple xpacs that sell for half as much. Instead they get to sell an xpac every blessed year and run it 4-6 years depending on computer evolutions. Last at the end they get to sell a big expensive complete collector's set for the first time instead of tossing out those "gold editions" for a fraction of the price.

At every stage of this process they put in less work and make more money. The community willingly builds it for them for little more than the respect earned by their fellow players and a few gimmes. Also they get a handy pool of budding designers they can recruit from if they find someone really good. There are always a couple super geeks out there who never thought to apply to these companies, but love editing games and are great at it. Best of all they have game players spending more time with their product and not buying other brands. They build a few game worlds like this that run at the same time and some players might never buy another brand. You take Bethesda doing an Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and something in outer space and you wouldn't need another game other than those three for half a decade!

The business model is awesome and the players get more of what they love.

[ExarKun]

That's true in many ways, Dragon Age is different though, it's a roughly 40-100 hour long game depending on how much you put into, but unlike the Sandbox games there is a finite end to Bioware's story, and there is no wandering aimless trying to find stuff.

If your main love is the sandbox, yeah Dragon Age won't be up your alley, but if you like complex stories (and let's face it, as fun as Morrowind and Oblivion are, they are not complex stories) then Dragon Age is awesome.

Take into account there is a toolset much like TES games that was released with Dragon Age and you have people churning out as much content as Bethesda sandbox games, it's just played differently.

The content people make in many ways is almost episodic, they create stories with the tools and you can play out there stories, now this could happen in Bethesda games as well, but not quite as refined.

Personally I love both the refined story based games that take a long time, and the sandbox type, both though are unique, and the toolsets help make unique stories the modding community can do as well.

In many ways I find these games two sides of the same coin, both use user content outside of there main stories, but one focuses on exploration and vastness over refined story and more tactical combat.