Not directly, but they tend to be dismissive of people who dislike their action-oriented direction.

I don't think I've ever seen Mike Laidlaw (the Todd Howard of Bioware) acknowledge any criticisms of DA2 being dumbed down, despite the fact that he posts somewhat often.

Bioware, old school Bioware basically made JRPGs in Western, or 'Canadian'RPG bodies. To answer whether a Bioware game is an RPG (specifically mid Bioware), youd have to ask whether you consider a JRPG to be an RPG. Some Bio games are obviously not RPGs, not even 'JRPGs', like Jade Empire. The other side of the spectrum however would be something like Kotor or BG. I dont think anybody would not consider those RPGs in one form or another.

That is because they have lost their minds.

Its better I guess to not acknowledge your faults.

You dare compare Todd Howard to such filth? You must die! - Bethesda fan-boy

I'm joking, for all of those who don't understand that. As for why he doesn't acknowledge any criticisms about DA2 being dumbed-down, look at it this way. For him to acknowledge criticisms, he would have to admit there's a problem. And for him to admit there's a problem, he has to admit that his game wasn't that good.

Or he is insane and to him its the pinnicle of what they want to do dumb down everything seems to be their motto.

Could be. I wish the government would chew out EA for once instead of all the banks. Would make a nice change of pace to be able to relate to all the complaint posts I'm seeing on Yahoo and AOL.

Yeah but 'nostalgia goggles' is just a catch-all phrase that means 'I cant think of a good refute'.
As a phrase it has no meaning.
Well, yes, I am old.
How does that mean that I think that anything from the past is automatically better?
Silly to assume so and I do not.
I do do think however that in some aspects older games perform remarkably better, and I also think that is coupled to better graphics these days.
We needed a fleshed out game to be engaged back then, we werent wowed by flash.

Case in point:
No way Im playing Dragon Age again. Seen it, done it, been there.
I still play Daggerfall.

I can get on board with this. I think I honestly enjoyed Origins more.

I am seriously not doubting he is.

Let them suffer under fire and then hopefully they can get it together stop being stupid and give the public what they want and release their death grip on companies they own.

Personal opinion.

Personally, I think its worse than some of the internets would have you believe.

They should have included engineer hats, no choice you make really matters, you have no control over what "your" Hawke says, if you attempt to role play, your Hawke comes across as a manic depressive sociopath with anger management issues, EABioware's maleHawke has the wedding crashing rapist's voice, you have one cave that repeats, fedex quests where you return rotting corpses you find in the cave to relatives you psychically "know" are the idiots who went out exploring the cave while carrying the rotting body, enemies parachute in from the sky, even when you're indoors and they have to dematerialize through the ceiling or something, enemies not only explode, but fall apart in lego pieces, and you find out that no matter what you do it makes no real difference in the game. I really disliked everything they retconned, flat out changed with no explanation, and completely ignored from their first game. I don't care whether they are going to attempt to copy Skyrim or not; I'm not bothering with any more of EABioware's games. Pity actually. DA:O is a favorite, and I still play it.

I played it; my brother didn't listen and bought it. He never made it through the second act. He lost interest in it completely. I borrowed it, I played it, I forced myself to finish it by skipping a lot of things. I gave it back to him, and he sold it.

I still play Morrowind. I get what you're saying, that a lot of newer games are all flash and no substance. That's a blatantly obvious fact. There are games with substance, however. You just have to look around. They're more rare these days because apparently shiny graphics appeals to all the casuals out there (even some of the hardcoe ones I know are starting to turn more to graphics than gameplay, which is a shame). I wish casual gamers would all just... go do something else. If you're not going to invest time in playing a game the right way, then don't invest time in playing it at all. I hear people complain all the time about how movies are being dumbed-down because audiences are encompassing more casual, less movie-buff people. Same concept.

Bioware talks about DA II going wrong like they were trying new things and all that,they don't assume it just ended as it did because it was a rushed mess.
I could overlook all the problems and the fact it had been dumbed down if the story was actually good but there is no story,no main plot or anything,you just arrive in that dead city and become an errand boy,kill lots of repeated monsters in repeated dungeons and then a unreasonable plot twist happens (terrorist mage),a stupid final battle (i lol'd at the big rampaging statue) and it's over.

Unfortunately publicly traded companies are required by law to act as sociopathic greed machines so don't expect any changes.

As far as I'm concerned, the damage EA has done to the gaming community is irreparable. It simply is. Taking down EA won't solve anything, but it makes a lot of people (including myself) feel better. At least if we take down EA now, they won't be able to destroy any other franchises that they have their eyes on. Maybe, at one time, EA was a decent company. Those days, however, are long gone.

I agree to the point above as well. I would play Morrowind still today had some idiot not have stolen it. I miss the days when game offered more instead of the flash they are trying to dazzle us with, graphics can add to a game yes but it should never be the focal point to a project. Games should be about gameplay and making it fun first then graphics.
Yes EA has a complex known as Anti Social Personality Disorder and I hate them for it as they do not care about the consumer, they just want to penny pinch you to death.

*High Five*

I bought DA2 under the (very false) assumption that it would be as good and as deep as Dragon Age: Origins. DA2 isn't an RPG to me in any capacity, because I have no ability to role play. It's a shoddy action game with some stats thrown in.

If I hear any talk of an "awesome button" during the development of DA3, I will not buy it under any circumstances for any price.

I really enjoy both TES and Dragon Age, but I think Skyrim is definitely better than DA:O and DA2 combined. Dragon Age games are the sort of games I play through once and thoroughly enjoy, but never play again. Skyrim and Oblivion on the other hand offer almost limitless replay value and keep me entertained for years with their vanilla content, and more years on top of that with mods. I can go anywhere I want, not just down the path Bioware wants me to go.

There is one thing Dragon Age does better though (although Skyrim has improved on this over Oblivion): Character depth. I really felt an emotional connection with Leliana, Morrigan, Bethany, Anders, Varric etc that just isn't there with Lydia or my wife in Skyrim.

I don't mind this at all though because of mods. Bethesda makes a brilliant world and then modders add in the characters that TES games lack - it's perfect. I really do hope that Bioware makes a Dragon Age RTS though because I'd really love that.

I agree with you about Mass Effect not being an RPG, that's a joke label. Although I disagree about Origins not being an RPG, that game has some strong RPG mechanics, Silent Protagonist, although linearness of the game doesn't help, nor the option to avoid the main quest.

Well to be fair to Bioware only had about a year and few months to make DA 2, but in the end it was still crap. Only Bioware game I took back to Gamestop to sell.

It does have strong RPG mechanics and it would have made a very good RPG if not for the fact that nothing respawns.
Therefore you have no choice in how you would handle anything and everything becomes a race for endgame. Being efficient so you can afford stuff.
You can choose what questline you will do first, at your weakest, but you cannot choose to lay things off until you are stronger, as you can only do anything once.

oh gods no! let's keep different genre games separated

i really don't want TES to become some soap opera game with endless dialogue cutscenes

Anything can be repaired, well most things but it takes time. I think the state of the industry can they can repair it but it will take time. EA used to be decent until they got this master plan to buy everything.

I like their products a lot for what they are, and they do impress; but that is a depressing outlook IMO. It's a bad harbinger of what's to come; and not (I think), an inaccurate one.

Were Bioware a part of Zenimax/Bethesda, we wouldn't be having this discussion. (Obsidian/New Vegas anyone?)..Bethesda needs to put EA/Ubisoft out of business...Both companies are a serious bane for this industry!

If Bioware was a part of Bethesda I think that might be better for both companies. It will never happen as far as I can tell but it would be batter for everyone I agree, I would hope that Bethesda gave Bioware the freedom they need to make great games.