Ray Muzyka: BioWare's Illusive Man

By Robert Purchese Published 28 January, 2010

On E3 reveals, new games, Mass Effect 3.

Ray Muzyka: BioWare's Illusive Man

by Bert Bert

28/01/10 16:00

On E3 reveals, new games, Mass Effect 3.

XBOX360
Dragon Age: Origins Electronic Arts BioWare PC Dragon Age: Origins Electronic Arts BioWare PlayStation 3 Dragon Age: Origins Electronic Arts BioWare Xbox 360 Star Wars: The Old Republic Electronic Arts BioWare PC Mass Effect 2 Electronic Arts BioWare Xbox 360 Mass Effect 2 Electronic Arts BioWare PC Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Electronic Arts BioWare PC Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Electronic Arts BioWare PlayStation 3 Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Electronic Arts BioWare Xbox 360 Mass Effect 3 Electronic Arts BioWare PC Mass Effect 3 Electronic Arts BioWare Xbox 360
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About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (60) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Yossarian #1 2 years ago

    Oh boy!

    Chances of questions I intend to ask even being put to the man: close to zero.

  • trip919 #2 2 years ago

    Asking what underwear he’s got on, is overstepping the line I feel (and I’ve already asked it!).

  • cianchristopher #3 2 years ago

    Is he the poker-playing wiz? The guy who beat the Blizzard studio head in some videogame poker blitz?

    Let's all ask him about that!!

  • Yossarian #4 2 years ago

    Should have got Zeschuk!

  • cianchristopher #5 2 years ago

    Are they real medical doctors, those two guys?

  • Yossarian #6 2 years ago

    They have medical degrees, yes.

  • MaxHughes #7 2 years ago

    Please keep this spoiler free for those that have to wait until tomorrow to play ME2!!

  • Johnhost #8 2 years ago

    Personally I love a game like Dragon Age more then sci-fi. Don't mess us about, Bioware make the next Elder Scrolls type game!

  • Nanocrystal #9 2 years ago

    This is exciting.

  • CaLeDee #10 2 years ago

    It has always been clear that Mass Effect would be a trilogy, and maybe that's part of the reason a lot of effort went into making the Mass Effect universe so believable. However, knowing that it is a trilogy also means it will eventually come to an end. What I want to know is whether ME3 will be the end of that universe, as in no more games will be set there, or whether it will be just the end of Shepard's story? I think it would be a shame to abandon such a rich and well thought out universe. (I also recognize that it's important not to become stagnant and always be thinking of new ideas, so I wonder how you strike a balance between the two?)

    I asked this question but when I submitted it the part in parenthesis got removed for some reason..

  • Turrican #11 2 years ago

    I think they've already said in another interview that they will make more Mass Effect games after 3.

  • DeadlyByDesign #12 2 years ago

    It's kind of a quite interview, I have the only question asked...or am I only able to see my questions? And not anyone elses

  • Yossarian #13 2 years ago

    Nice, friendly PR exercise so far.

  • Machetazo #14 2 years ago

    I had to refresh *sorry!* in order to see the latest ask, by Phattso. I hope there's not incompatibility with FF3.6 and the supero-magic updating forces that help keep things running smoothly on these events.

  • Phattso #15 2 years ago

    I think I might have to stand corrected - all those people that said he'd just churn out family friendly soundbytes no matter what he's asked appear to have been right. :)

  • Nanocrystal #16 2 years ago

    Say something controversial, Ray.

  • cianchristopher #17 2 years ago

    Why does it take so long to update? Do they have to send to questions in the post to Canada or something?

  • Yossarian #18 2 years ago

    Phatt, he's always been the more robotic one of the pair, and Bioware have grown increasingly cool and distant over the years. But maybe that can't be helped given the size they are now.

  • cianchristopher #19 2 years ago

    Jesus, this is one of the most boring interviews of all time...

  • darkmorgado #20 2 years ago

    I've asked a few questions - what his favourite Bioware game is (excluding ME2), what licenses he would like to work with beyond star wars and sonic, whether criticisms of the first game changed their plans for ME2, whether the impact of decisions in future games was planned right from the start, and who he thinks killed Archie Mitchell ;-)

  • Phattso #21 2 years ago

    I get the impression that if I ask "what's your favourite cereal?" he'd reply along the lines of "well, we have lots of talented people at our cereal selection sites and they do a really great job of singling out a shortlist of cereals for me each morning allowing me to sample a variety of tasty, yet nutritional, foods from some of our great partners in that industry." :)

  • MaxHughes #22 2 years ago

    It's not auto-updating :( Fix it EG!! Or is it just me? !

  • Yossarian #23 2 years ago

    My understanding is the doctors are increasingly removed from the actual game development aspects; they both have MBAs now and are businessmen figureheads for what has become a massive, massive brand. Bioware is a big business now. It's a shame, though, because I remember reading a paper magazine preview for the original Baldur's Gate back in the day and they were just these two geeky guys who wanted to revolutionise what was then called the CRPG.

    Given that this PR is all tied to the release of Mass Effect 2, grabbing Casey Hudson or Christina Norman for a chat would have been more interesting, since they actually had their hands in the guts of the game. But even they tend to be pretty cagey.

  • darleysam #24 2 years ago

    Don't think my question about Casey Hudson consuming the brains of fellow employees to absorb their superpowers is going to get asked.
    Shame some of my others probably won't, though.

  • Nanocrystal #25 2 years ago

    ME1 remake for PS3?

  • NorUraeus #26 2 years ago

    Is it even possible to make the questions more soft ball? This is like a big yawn fest so far

  • darleysam #27 2 years ago

    Seriously, some of the writers I mentioned in my question (that won't be asked) are far more open and forthcoming without crossing into "can't talk about that" territory.

  • Machetazo #28 2 years ago

    So far, I'm most disappointed about how the text of the article ran through a compressed discography of Bioware, so I thought the questions in that realm would be most encouraged and most likely to feature, and so far, that's not really been the case. :/ There's so much ground that could be covered, under that remit, if that was the intent.

  • Yossarian #29 2 years ago

    DLC... check... DLC coming! Wallets out!
    Natal question... check... nothing to say or announce!
    iPad question (?)... check... nothing to say or announce!
    Questions about ME2, the history of Bioware and the RPG, the future of Bioware and the RPG... nah.

    No Jade Empire in the works for a long time is the most interesting answer so far.

  • Nanocrystal #30 2 years ago

    Basically the answer I would give - JRPGs aren't really RPGs.

  • [maven] #31 2 years ago

    I've resigned to asking questions whose sole intent is to make the interviewer chuckle and then get discarded... ;)

  • Machetazo #32 2 years ago

    Shrike: Resistance 2 = wish fulfillment? I don't even want to know what their original wish was to have seen it fulfilled in that way!

  • Phattso #33 2 years ago

    Yeah, I submitted a few of those. Although I hold out hope that my "would you fuck a Mabari Warhound?" one might slip in there. ;)

  • BastoJ #34 2 years ago

    Some of these answers... *facepalm*

  • Yossarian #35 2 years ago

    For what it's worth, here's what I asked, as it seems they'll soon be wrapping up now with that inane invisibility/lasers for eyes/whatever question:

    "Is it fair to say that the requirements (time, money, disc space) of fully voicing every line of dialogue in modern games place stringent restrictions on the amount of dialogue, variability, and so "role-playing", that can take place in your games?"

    "What is the "future" for role-playing games, as you see it? What are the priorities for Bioware, going forward, as technology continues to improve?"

    "Would it be fair to say that Mass Effect and its sequel continue a trend of Bioware's game design becoming increasingly simpler and "streamlined", leaving Dragon Age as the poster title for the deep and intricate RPG mechanics that made your company successful? If so, did you always intend to take this direction in development, or is it at least partly a response to wider changes in the industry?"

  • Yossarian #36 2 years ago

    Oh, they didn't even dare ask him the favourite superpower question.

    What a waste of an hour for all involved. Just send out a press release next time.

  • Phattso #37 2 years ago

    There was less in there than a press release. All you guys that said it would be a waste of time: I bow to your superiority. That was shit.

  • Nanocrystal #38 2 years ago

    It beat working for an hour.

  • Demikaze #39 2 years ago

    So no actual insight into anything. Superb. I actually bothered to submit a question and everything...

  • cianchristopher #40 2 years ago

    Wow, what an interview! I know so much more now than I did before!

  • Machetazo #41 2 years ago

    I was going to make light of an hour of time wasted, but I just can't. That was bad.

  • Nanocrystal #42 2 years ago

    Who am I kidding, you're right.

  • trip919 #43 2 years ago

    Fuck me. What a terribly boring interview.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #44 2 years ago

    Apologies to those disappointed. I'd give you the world if I could but he's a well oiled machine.

  • Yossarian #45 2 years ago

    Phatt, I know I have a reputation for being bitter and cynical about Bioware and the direction they're heading, but I really don't enjoy being bitter and cynical, at least in this case. I've loved their games for more than a decade, continue to love them (albeit with an increasing number of caveats), but they just seem increasingly soulless and cold.

    On the Bioware forums, whenever a staff member answers a question, all the regulars go bananas and praise Bioware to the roof for their community interaction, and I'm just like, "Really, guys?". There are mammoth developers out there who do a far better job of being warm and responsive to their audience. Bungie and Valve spring to mind.

  • Phattso #46 2 years ago

    I wasn't aware you had a reputation for that. Not about Bioware in particular anyway, I just thought you were a miserable fucker? ;)

    I love BioWare games almost without exception. Not because they're BioWare, I've never been much for groupie-ism, but simply because when I play their games I enjoy them and I'm happy and the sun comes out and the birds sing.

    But fuck me did this guy take the shine off it. I don't even care that my ME2 pre-order from Amazon is still five days away now.

    And I'm really narked that EG didn't use my sex question. :)

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #47 2 years ago

    And I'm really narked that EG didn't use my sex question. :)

    Sorry, Phattso - I actually had it earmarked since the outset to use. As the time drew closer my steely nerves shattered. It just didn't seem right :)

  • Phattso #48 2 years ago

    It's OK - I think we both know which he'd have picked anyway. ;)

  • darleysam #49 2 years ago

    I only realised that half of my first question (which I'd been thinking about for the last few days) got cut off. Guess I should take that as a hint that I was too wordy.

  • Hunam #50 2 years ago

    I miss the two hour grind a thons these used to be. Really getting into the meat and bones of the developer. This was good enough though in an iPad* kind of way.

    *in that it was a bit lame but the spectacle of the show was fun enough

    Still, the game is awesome and I shall go play it, post haste!

  • Shrike #51 2 years ago

    @Machetazo

    I actually didn't write "We've certainly seen the same with Uncharted 2, Resistance 2 and Assassin's Creed II" - that was added by EG. Presumably to make me look more cosmopolitan.

  • CaptainTrips #52 2 years ago

    Wouldn't surprise me if we see an MMO set in the Mass Effect universe after the trilogy has ended. One of the reasons for WoW's huge success was that Blizzard built up an IP with a fanatical following before WoW was released, much like Bioware are doing now.

    Roll on tomorrow so I can get a hold of this masterpiece! :D

  • _Price_ #53 2 years ago

    Sooooooo that's "no" to an offline KotOR then? S'all I was after.

    I don't know. Some people. They make a dozen or so awesome games and think they can ignore the whining. Never, I say! Never!

    Unless you click on the 'ignore poster' tab, obviously.

  • Dr.Mott #54 2 years ago

    You didn't ask him if he would rather have Invisibility or Laser vision.

  • des #55 2 years ago

    Its funny how they praise working on console versions of Dragon Age and they have outsourced them to some shitty third party...lolz

    Sorry Bioware,i like your games,but the Emperor is naked in this case...pathetic

  • mkreku #56 2 years ago

    That was a bit unexciting. This doctor isn't very good at answering direct questions, is he?

  • Shikasama #57 2 years ago

    *sigh*

  • actionfitz #58 2 years ago

    me too Phattso, I noticed my pre-order from amazon said 'estimated delivery: Feb 02' and I nearly shat a brick.
    The game is released on the 29th of jan... is that seriously the best you can do guys?
    I coughed up the extra for 'expedited' delivery, whatever that means - still cheaper than the highstreet.
    Here I am, almost 10am. haven't showered, just finished a sausage bap and a coffee... watching the street like a hawk for any 'royal mail special delivery types'... (yes I took today off work :S )

  • geeza2020 #59 2 years ago

    Im not too bothered about the fact he didnt answer the questions particularly well. As long as they keep listening to what fans want in future releases, and improving their games based on these criticisms then i'll keep buying their games. I dont know what people were expecting from this guy.. he's near the top of a massive corporation, hes not going to be the most personal interviewee in the world is he?

  • Caimbeul #60 2 years ago

    I would be interested to know if he would be interested in taking on the Shadowrun license...some huge potential there! the universe is amazing and Bioware could really put their mark on it.