14 DAY TRIAL // If anyone can be directly held responsible for the improvements coming in Mass Effect 2, from the combat system that is less clunky to the more interactive conversations between characters, it's the players who have gotten through the first Mass Effect title and provided feedback to the developers at BioWare.
Talking to Gamasutra as part of an in depth interview, Greg Zeschuk, who is one of the leaders of BioWare, said that “Mass Effect was a great game, but Mass Effect 2 is a much, much better game. All the things we heard the fans say, all the things we felt when we released - all these things, we improved.”
It's interesting to note that BioWare has always thought of Mass Effect as being a trilogy, which allowed it to use the first game in the series in order to float some concepts and ideas and see if they were interesting to the players who are into role playing experiences and sci fi setting. The second game can take the ideas that proved more successful and polish them further, realizing their full potential. Feedback coming from Mass Effect 2 will enable the developers to create a definitive experience for the last game in the franchise.
He also addressed the possibility of making Dragon Age into the series, saying that “If everything goes well with Dragon Age, and we're pretty confident, it should continue to live on. We certainly have a lot of DLC planned for it.” But before the company puts together a proper sequel, Zeschuk is hoping that the tools shipping with the PC version of the game will allow dedicated players to create new content that can attract fans to the title.
BioWare really has a full plate at the moment, working on Mass Effect 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins, which means that it makes sense to rely a little on the community to extend the lives of its titles.