To be honest John, you're not wrong. Everything you've brought up thus far has merit and it's true the gaming industry tends to cut corners, but do you know why they have to cut corners sometimes? Because, as everyone knows, money doesn't grow on trees.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery. When you go on about how these gaming companies are ripping everyone off and how they have no ingenuity or aren't very innovative, do you realize that maybe they're doing this ON PURPOSE? They're not huddled around a dark room maniacally laughing about how they're pulling one over on the public; I'm sure they know everyone is going to spot these things.
Gaming is like music; you don't have to re-invent the wheel to make something awesome. However, your attitude towards gaming is inversely proportional to a hipster's attitude towards music. Every single Borknagar album is different, but it's still the same thing. They're not doing anything wildly innovative or out there, and they aren't taking any big chances because they don't have to. It's their niche. I personally think they're boring as shit (with the exception of the new album) but that doesn't mean that what they do isn't good. I'm going to listen to every new Borknagar cd with reticence because I think Vortex is more overrated than Metallica, but I still can appreciate something good that comes from them, such as their new album. The same thing goes with gaming. You, on the other hand, are unable to appreciate any game unless it's either some nostalgia trip or it cures cancer. You set standards that often are impossible to reach, both for yourself and everything else, and you end up disappointed. Enjoy it for what it is and move on.
Furthermore, Bioware, EA, Bethesda, Atlus, etc. are all the Warner Music Group of game companies, and you are the hipster complaining that everything they release isn't underground enough and go on and on about how terrible everything is they're putting out. It's not that bad, dude. You're just bored. You're not supposed to like every single game that comes out...that's not the point of gaming. You find what you like and you stick with it. Who gives a shit whether or not reviewers give them good reviews or not? WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS OF ART IN THE REAL WORLD. If it weren't for those great reviews in the past, even if they were a little bloated, you wouldn't even have ME3.
You started with SWTOR, then you moved on to ME3, and then you even pulled D3 into it with Blizzard without ever having seen even the beta. Stop trolling forums and start playing games, man. It's so much more fun to write about games you love than to constantly bitch and say, "I TOLD YOU SO, SO GIVE ME MY 'TOLD YOU SO' PRIZE!!!!!" For the record, every single game you have complained about and slagged are the very same games I absolutely love. You've done this so much that, while at one time we may have followed your advice, now we just look at everything you post about games as, "Whatever John says about the game, I will feel the opposite." Enjoy games more. They're called games for a reason.
I've said it time and time again and you just gloss over it every time, but right now, the most innovative gaming company on the face of the planet is CCP. What they're doing with Dust 514 and Eve Online by connecting two entire universes on two different platforms for play at the same time in two different styles of gameplay is unheard of. And you know what? Dust 514 IS GONNA BE FREE. You won't even have to pay for it! The new Eve/Dust universe will make the Mass Effect universe look like fucking Sesame Street.
While you're watching this video, imagine that you're gonna be there on the ground in Dust 514 on your PS3, following orders from ME in space on my PC in Eve Online. If you piss me off or fail, I CAN NUKE YOU FROM ORBIT and vice versa. You will be able to destroy ME IN SPACE from a weapon YOU HAVE on the ground in a completely different game, on a completely different platform, in a completely different time zone, all on one server. Do you see what this is? This will be the largest gaming universe in the history of gaming. It's gonna make Skyrim look like Donkey Kong on Atari. Quit wasting your time bitching about Bioware and get in on this awesomeness!