I absolutely adore the original STALKER, Clear Sky is good (not as good as SoC) and CoP wasn't bad either (still not as good as SoC at least not atmosphere-wise, but it was better than Clear Sky). Now, I always considered the following...
1) Had STALKER 2 been developed until done and released, chances are that it would have been a console port, and honestly I wasn't expecting anything better than either SoC or CoP anyway. I might have been wrong of course, but my expectations were low the first day I heard that a sequel was planned. That's in part because I saw what happened with Clear Sky (let's face it, the last two levels are on rails, very linear and bland). But a mere console port wouldn't have helped much, in my opinion. To be honest, if anything, I would have expected STALKER 2's campaign to be "decent" but shorter than SoC's, with more focus on multi-player for the console crowd. If FPS games these days (or rather these years) don't have an extensive MP mode they usually tend to fail.
2) I, for one, never wanted STALKER (or anything similar) turning into some type of an MMO game. What's the point in turning almost any types of FPS games into MMOs anyway? Most FPS games have a multi-player mode with at least 6+, if not 12+ or up to usually 32 or 64 players in one given map for whatever mode they're playing. The only FPS MMO I can see fitting within the realm of MMOs is Planetside exactly because it was made for that. If they try to compete against Planetside with their new MMO plan for that STALKER Survarium spiritual sequel thing I predict wall-hitting failures at untold speeds (and if it's not direct competition, it's indirect nonetheless, how many FPS MMOs are out there?). If anything I wish them the best of luck if they want to turn that game in an MMO rather than giving it a proper single-player with a decent multi-player mode (without being MMO to start with, no need to play with 200 players at any given time).
3) How would anything be "saved" if BioWare buys the IP? I don't get that. If anything ever since ME3 was released BioWare's name has been and still is being tarnished, not to mentioned being literally mocked, and with very good reasons. They have become a random Joe in a bar for whom the best (or worst) insulting memes have been created lately. They aren't the people they used to be and they sure as heck aren't making the good games they used to make. Please do "clarify" why would BioWare save the situation if they bought the IP? BioWare's venture in the MMO domain is far from successful from what I've seen and heard with Old Republic, and other than that they never even made a first-person game to start with, ever. If they bought it they would probably turn it into their very first FPS failure, with a nice RGB trio of options at the end for everyone to happily speculate on for years (ironically maybe Mac Walters would be better at writing stories for generic FPS games now that I think about it).
I really like the STALKER trilogy overall, and the best in my book is SoC, and will always be, its atmosphere is unequaled to date. Heck, even Clear Sky's Red Forest had a great atmosphere (and the Swamps wasn't bad either). Maybe STALKER 2 would have turned out a good game, certainly possible. But yeah at the risk of repeating myself, I'm sure STALKER 2 would have been a console port... although it might still have been better than not having STALKER 2 at all. It is a shame to see such a good IP going away. The first time I played Shadow of Chernobyl it immediately reminded me of Fallout under a first-person view with Russian voice overs, and I loved it (it felt extremely authentic). Indeed, the STALKER IP had its moment of glory with SoC, then Clear Sky helped keep the IP on the graphics war front. Finally CoP tried to give us back some SoC-worthy game-play time within the setting, and managed to some extent. I admit I would have liked a STALKER 2 but then again I'm not sure where it could have gone story-wise. We might have had new mutants, a few new zones with returning ones, and of course new weapons...
Anyhow, I bid farewell to the STALKER IP and give my sincere thanks to GSC GameWorld for having boldly created such a game as SoC back then, and despite all odds (delays, leaks) managing success by selling more than a million copies. Impressive for that "random company we never heard anything of before" (back then), it truly was an accomplishment to be proud of for them.
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