That attitude is exactly why people don’t like BioWare games anymore. Stop looking at them as RPGs and start looking at them for what they are. Once you get past the assumption that they’re gonna be deep, complex Role Playing Games, you’ll see that they’re not half as bad as you make them out to be.

The biggest being EA. EA bought up Bioware and since then you’ve seen some odd, Non-bioware misteps which really only point towards EA and their pushing the studio to pump out more and quicker. I heard rumors that DA2 was pushed so quickly because EA wanted to capitalize on the popularity of DAO quickly before gamers got impatient. I also hear that a lot of the DLC decisions are also that of EA, pushing for more, smaller DLC content.

The second thing in play is the fact that Bioware isn’t the bioware it was during the years of Baulder’s Gate. Yes, the two Doctors whom started are still at the helm, but the studio has changed over the years and thus ideals as to what’s important to their type of development have changed.

The third and probably most important thing, is the fact that Bioware is evolving the ideas of an RPG and integrating them into other genres to create hybrid games that give us levels of RPG stats and such with more fluid combat and amped up action that A LOT of RPGs of lore seem to be low on.

I think there’s a crowd out there that loves the idea of RPGs of yesteryear where you spent a ton of time thinking out skill trees, crafting potions, managing loot and and there’s the other 95% of gamers whom really don’t have time to bother learning new sets for every game that comes out. I’m not saying ALL RPG elements should be dumbed down or dropped, but fact of the matter is, a lot of gamers simply will not play a game if it’s as complex as RPGs of old.

I personally like a mix. I loved DragonAge Origns for it’s characters and unique (and epic) journey through it’s world. I had no issues with the looting style, crafting, item management, XP and skill trees, but I did have an issue with the bland “click an enemy to fight” fighting mechanics. Come DragonAge2, I was thrilled to have real time control over my character and see graphical improvements. Sadly, the rest of the game’s scope and the character development just dropped off. I didn’t care about the characters, I didn’t have an attachment to the story and the places i visited seemed for nothing, regardless of other parts of the game.

With Mass Effect, I preferred to collect weapons & armor and equip the better ones on the go, getting rid of or trading the ones I didn’t for cash that I could use for other things. The leveling up made sense too. I didn’t like that all of that was dropped for ME2 in favor of on-board (the ship) weapons/armor that was simply decided for you and a level system that was dumbed down.

They really need to have a mix to please both parties… but it’s got to be done in such a way that doesn’t alienate the general game… because let’s face it… that 5% that LOVE hardcore RPG elements are only going to spend so much money.