Bioware's Third Big Franchise What Setting Should it Be?

So duders I was just on Bioware's store (looking for sweet art i'm sort of obsessed right now lol) and they have a brand tab that you can search merchandise by, and I thought it was sort of empty looking with only Mass Effect and Dragon Age being on the drop down. Personally I really love these two franchises warts and all (and yes DAII was one of the most disappointing games of the generation) but eventually especially because Bioware seems like such a large company they will branch out and create a new franchise (I say franchise because that's just business these days) and I wanted to know what setting you want/ story you want to explore.

I know a lot of you will be all "Hey asshole what about Baldur's Gate and Jade Empire they should be made current gen grumble grumble grumble those are Bioware's other major franchises grumble grumble" but I'm sorry I see the update of those franchises as being unlikely and a new one the most likely option. I know that Bioware is working on DAIII (please god be good) and an untitled Mass Effect game (prequel? I think likely) but I'm pretty sure these duders have worked on three games at once before (DA2, ME3 and SW:TOR I think) so what else could they be cooking up? I'd guess it would be an RPG (or a shooter/other genre mixed with RPG elements as Bioware has become "RPG EA division") but I'm not even sure what I would want to see so I'm looking to others.

They have typical fantasy and space opera covered, other themes that I've seen recently or otherwise in RPG's include cyberpunk (CD Project Red's new game), espionage (Alpha Protocol), dystopia/apocalyptic (Fallout) among others that I'm probably forgetting right now. Out of these few options as far as world building (which is important as hell) the dystopia/cyberpunk option seems the best route. Although I just started up Alpha Protocol and the story seems promising as well.

Can you guys think of some better settings/themes you would like these guys to tackle? Also I apologize if this topic has been covered before Bioware seems very popular in these forums which is one of the reasons I wanted to ask you guys. Anyway I dunno about you guys I know lately Bioware has had some questionable stuff in their games but they are still IMO still making excellent RPG's/hybrids. So what do you wanna see from them next as far as another original setting?

I'd like to see them tackle a game set in ancient Greece or the 19th/early 20th century West. Like you said, space fantasy is pretty well represented and I'd like something new as well.

European colonial period

They already have a third franchise, give me Jade Empire 2

70s detective noir. BioWare does The French Connection, Serpico, Chinatown, All the President's Men. Nothing but grim parking garages, smoky board rooms and shadowy dive bars.

That's what 70's America basically consisted of right? Those 3 types of locations adjacent all over the land.

They should just make a Twilight game and send their hack romance fan-fic writers there to get it out of their system.

@toxin066: i'm in for ancient Greece. I think they could do an excellent job via their conversation wheel style with all of the politicking during this period. Also wars. Would especially be awesome if they had a DA:O style start where you picked your dude and instead of elf/dwarf/human/mage you chose between Athenian/Spartan/Theban etc. and they all had different play styles as well as different storylines. Ah man i'm excited just thinking about it. If you chose an Athenian you were more intelligent and good with ships/words but aren't as skilled for fighting and you have a bad relationship with any Spartans you run into. Goddamn.

(Fuck all the haters, I've played around 700 hours in DA2, and I ain't stahpping!)

I would like to see them tackle a modern setting/Alpha Protocol type of game. They have their Fantasy setting, Sci Fi setting, Eastern/Oriental fantasy setting (I would murder a small, innocent creature for Jade Empire 2 on next gen): lets see some modern era. I've said for a long time that BioWare has trouble with their main storylines, that Characters and WorldBuilding are really where they shine so gimmie a squad based tactical third person shooter with soldiers or spies, the horrors of war, backstabbing and TWEESTS!, PMC's. Keep the main story small, but deep like the Loyalty Missions from ME2, allathat with some fantastic world building and party members. Keep the dialogues and party banter, but go elbow deep on the character progression and, more importantly, how you and your squaddies actions effect the world. I know shooters are a dime a dozen-dozen, but something with some genuine tactical gameplay, squad orders and positioning, maybe even a bit'a stealth coupled with rpg mechanics, could be an awesome game.

I know that's a hell of a wishlist I just created there, but BioWare are without a doubt, one of my favourite game makers, and I do hope that what they make next (aside from DA3 because I'm already sold on that shit simply cuz fanboi status) is really awesome and new. (now if you would excuse me, I need to go watch that Torment:ToN llighting video again to satisfy my inner isometric demons)

I've been saying since rumours of a new Bioware IP first came about that they should do something modern day. Not necessarily espionage like Alpha Protocol. I'm thinking more of a cop story. I'd like to see how their RPG methodology would work in that kind of a setting. I think it'd be pretty cool.

Interrogations would be pretty cool at least.

Beyond Good and Evil 2. Someone must make it if Ubisoft doesn't :(

Dragon Age 2 spin-offs. Dragon Age 2-2. Dragon Age 2: Lightning's Return.

cyberpunk. I want to roll into 2014 and play a cyberpunk game from EVERY big name developer out there.

Ancient Rome would be even cooler than Greece IMO, you could go anywhere from Egypt to Britain. Also Alternate Reality Steampunk World War 2 where you start off in an American POW camp. The Americans turn you to their side and you can opt to either join the army and take the fight directly to the Nazi's or "escape" from the camp as a double agent and take down the Nazi leadership from the inside, climbing the ranks by doing morally dubious things to gain the SS's respect and in turn covertly assassinating key Nazi officials. You could also do side missions, flying around the world to assassinate Italian and Japanese leaders, or rescuing allied POW's or supporting the French underground. Man that would be awesome! I should be a game designer.

A fantasy setting - but something that isn't just pseudo-medieval Europe with dragons...

Sci-fi, but confined to a single, crazy-ass planet.

Map packs for Battlefield 4.

/trolling

Inside Randy Savage's mind.

Edit: Now that I think about it, this would probably make a pretty great Quantic Dream game.

Magic Realism maybe? I think a good Dresden Files RPG could be pretty awesome.

Historical!

I'd love a Rome setting full of blood and guts... and maybe a little mysticism.

Modern day so that is counters the other 2 franchises. Or near modern day. A text based adventure!

Modern Military Shooter

/trolling

I honestly think that some kind of Black Plauge kind of game would be awesome from those guys, and could have a lot of tension. Keep most of the fantasy spell slinging out though because they already do that elsewhere.

Grungy space bounty hunter. Where the evil/good choice can be determined by how whether you kill/capture the bounty. Hell keep the setting in ME universe and boom the final boss is Aria.

No more evil/good choices, leave it the choices a more morally ambigiuous, put it in the ME universe and you've got me.

I'd like to see Bioware do their own version of a Spy game (Espionage Role-Playing Game if you want to be precise). Maybe not James Bond, but something similar.

For example, I loved Alpha Protocol, even though it's a pretty glitchy game. It was like a choose your own adventure-type game in that the game changed based on the decisions you made. They should do a game similar to that one.

Modern Military FPS.

I want Jade Empire made into a proper franchise. Chisel it into a bit more of a solid action game with heavy RPG elements, and I think they could have an amazing franchise.

its 1974.

aliens have invaded.

the aliens unleashed a zombie plague on the population.

in retaliation, humans unearthed the ancient arcane arts of magic and use it to battle zombies and aliens alike. that is, till the forces of hell are awoken from all the use of magic and now demons enter the battle.

EA corporate RPG. You start off as a humble QA tester and over the course of an epic adventure you will become the new CEO.

Serious answer: First off, whatever they do next, I want them to drop the RPG pretense. They don't seem very interested in making real RPGs anymore, and I think the only reason they continue to put RPG systems in their games is because they feel like they're supposed to because they're Bioware. Now don't get it twisted, I'm not being a grumpy old man gamer wanting them to go back Baldur's Gate or whatever, I really do think their games would better served if they didn't keep trying to make these big AAA mass market action games while keeping one foot behind in RPG territory for the sole reason of keeping some RPG cred with their fanbase.

As for the setting, they seem very fond of building their own richly detailed worlds, so I don't think anything too grounded in our own reality would interest them. They'll also definitely want to have a cast of characters that you can stop and have conversations with. And given how successful the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer has been for them I think it's a safe bet to say that whatever's coming next will have a strong multiplayer focus. To top it off, it will most likely be a shooter of some sort. That kind of limits what I can realistically expect from them. I guess if I'm living in a fantasy world where none of that shit is a factor, then I would want them to do a really good open world pirate game.

@soapy86: I think that the light RPG mechanics do serve a purpose in AAA mass market games though. Customization has been successful in major franchises like TES and CoD. I agree with you otherwise though, as long as EA gives them the leeway to create another franchise, they'll probably create another Thedas-esque world with its own characters.

A game where you play as Dr. Ray or Dr. Greg and curbstomp fools, occasionally stopping to drink a beer or engage in a dialogue tree. Also there are romance options. With John Riccotello.

Alternate answer: Straight up visual novels so that they can confine all of their crummy fan-fictiony romance writing to one thing while the good writers make the aforementioned Untitled Bioware Doctor RPG.

The real kotor 3.

I'm not confident they can any longer make a good game.

I'd like a modern/semi-recent urban setting. Perhaps not typical spy stuff, but more espionage? Investigating businesses? Assassinating people? Spy stuff that is less about technology and hacking and more about being a smooth, subtle person in conversations. Wild West would be good too, as would steampunk or earthbound Blade Runner/District 9 type sci-fi.

I could go for some more 70's detective noir period.

Third? Y'all making me feel old.

@d_bones: Bioware has already said the Mass Effect team is working on a new IP. As to its setting, I think a Steampunk setting would be cool.

A game where you play two doctors that take revenge on a big evil corp after it almost sucked all the joy out of them?

A pirate RPG set in the Carribean. Think Monkey Island but serious and RPG-like.

I'd like to see a fantasy game about native indian folklore set in a alternate universe where you fight evil demons and spirits that haunts your dreams and make you sick or corrupted. Growing up in Vancouver i was always fascinated with designs like these.

Although im pretty sure in other regions, their art and culture maybe different.

Well, they have done fantasy and Sci-fi.

Seems a horror setting would be the most different for them.

I think a gritty 60's cold war spy setting could be cool, I think the modern day spy setting is a bit overplayed in wider media, and would stray way to close to modern military stuff.

The nightmarish setting of a picket fence, middle-class white suburb, circa 2013.

@finnith: Customization is not necessarily an RPG mechanic. There are lots of RPGs that don't let you customize your dude, and there lots of non-RPGs that do allow you do that.

World War 2 spy setting... Something like Casablanca, complete with copious amounts of noir.

I also liked the idea of an ancient Greek setting, but I would make it mythological...

Historical Fiction of some kind. It's obvious.

Personally I'd say something like Sharpe/Hornblower/Master & Commander lends itself well, but Imperial Rome would also be amazing and probably has a wider appeal.

Came in here to suggest something like this, oh god yes. I wanna play a game as a guy that does nothing but smoke, drink and grimace.

@thepencil: i know man I enjoyed most of my time with DA2 (beat it three times) but it was still a massive letdown especially recycling dungeons.

I'm on board for Rome>Greece I guess you do have more geography (I just dislike their knocked off gods is all). And to everyone saying they want this noir style game....I'm not with you. It's too....regular I guess for me. I think L.A. Noire was a lot of fun and they did a decent job with their interrogation system but that is where I see it, I think Bioware can do better than take on that recent setting. I'm more in for them building another goddamn world. Think of how massive Thedas and the Milky Way were, I just don't see (and don't want them) to constrain themselves by going ok it's the seventies...America...New York/Chicago/L.A.....and let's rehash true stories sprinkled with some new ones....it's sounds too fucking regular for them. For another studio sure no problem. But Bioware is a world builder>main plot and typically have well written characters. So if they go into the past (ancient) I'm in or far flung future I'm in even a semi-futuristic spy society is good but setting it in recent times with constraints like that no way.