BioWare accuses JRPGs of being repetitive and linear

Either you never played any of these games or you are just making things up. Yes, those are sequels, but each of this games had a completely different engine/way of playing and immersion.

While I don't agree that all of jrpgs are impressive, the fact is that the majority of the companies that make jrpgs(and that's like 90 percent of them) would kill for one member of Bioware's development team.

Bioware's complaints go beyond "repetitive" and "linear", which is too bad -- because I would have actually agreed with those two labels.

But his statements that the JRPG has not evolved are pretty silly. They've evolved... they just haven't evolved into a game style that he wants to play. Someone who has lost patience with Bioware's development style could easily make the blanket statement that Western RPGs have not evolved from the days of yore, and he would be equally (in)correct.

So yes, Bioware's statements are silly. But I wouldn't call them "dumb" since their intended audience is likely to lap it up and agree.

//Zig

I once played a western RPG that began by choosing a background occupation of some kind. Once the game had briefly acknowledged this background, I was set loose upon a short linear tutorial-mission, at the culmination of which I ran smack-dab into the Main Antagonist and his army of doom. After narrowly surviving the encounter, I was inducted into an elite organization and granted special powers, then set loose upon five Important Locations which I could visit in any order. Once I had completed four of them, a mind-blowing Plot Twist occured that completely changed my perception of the game up until that point. Then I finished off the fifth IP, had a romance scene, and slew the Main Antagonist upon which I was presented with a Supreme Goodguy ending or a Baby-Eating Bad Dude ending.

Which of Bioware's RPGs in the last few years have I just described? The answer is, all of them, and this is why Greg Zeschuk's comments seem to me like the pot accusing the kettle of being rather dark in colour.