EA Tweaking Mass Effect 3 to Appeal to Wider Market

[SomebodyNowhere]

The first game had good RPG elements and while the second trimmed some of them back, it was still a good game. I'm just hoping they don't mess with the class and experience systems too much.

 

[Caligulove]

"It's important to remember, however, that this was a comment intended for investors, not gamers"

The one thing to be taken away from this short article.

 

[mechanixis]

Oh fuck that.

 

[Adzma]

EA is letting Bioware take more time to get the game right, most likely so they can release a mobile phone game shortly before or after its release. That's what I'm hearing, anyway.

No, BioWare are being made to dumb the game down. It even says in the title: "EA Tweaking."

BioWare lost their integrity as a company as soon as EA bought them. At least I'll still have my memories.

 

[Irridium]

If they believed in the franchise, they would let it be and do its own thing.

 

[ddq5]

HANDS OFF, EA. DO NOT TAINT MY BABY.
After seeing the previews with slut-tastic Ashley and generic space marine blandness, getting news of the delay, and now this, I am genuinely less excited about ME3. I don't want executive meddling to make it appeal to the wider market, I want the Mass Effect I know and love from the Bioware I used to trust.

...okay that sounded way too entitled fanboyish. And for that I apologize.

 

[gbemery]

Pretty much what i am afraid i am hearing is "Lets have a mediocre gaming experience that everyone might say "meh" to but atleast they will have bought it." Sorry to say it Bioware...I love you and all, but there are different genres for a reason.

 

[Wuggy]

Ok, while this technically can sound alarming. We must remember that we don't have any context here. We do not know what parts of the game they are making more accessible. That's why I'll make my judgement when I see the actual game.

 

[MrTub]

fu..................................................

 

[FoolKiller]

I just hope it isn't what they did to Dragon Age II. That was quite crappy. If it goes that way, I think they are going to lose fans while gaining new ones.

 

[Sutter Cane]

Ya know what at this point I'm just about ready to go back to Alpha Protocol and just pretend THAT'S ME3, at least that game uses its rpg elements.

 

[Versuvius]

After DA2 being claimed as the best game ever, with a strange Prince of Persia style combat rehash and my biggest, and weirdly nitpicky gripe of Backstab being a power (One that teleports you behind the guy to stab, and they more often than not just rotate on the spot and cloud you) i have very little faith in EA to make anything better. My crackpot theory is currently EA assassinating the Dragon Age franchise so their shitty Call of Mass Effect game will get acclaim when compared to DA2. Alright someone hand me a tinfoil hat.

 

[DrakeLake]

"Let's continue jumping to conclusions about a game we haven't even seen in action."

While I agree with you, you also need to understand that, historically, comments like the one made usually means simplifying things in a negative manner to gamers who want more of a challenge or involvement in some aspect of gameplay. Dragon Age 2, for example, didn't sit well with some people.

 

[Fanboy]

So they are making the combat better and adding more rpg elements to please both shooter fans and rpg fans... why is this a problem?

Seriously, that is the only thing it could mean. What could they possibly remove from Mass Effect 2 to make it less of an RPG? It had barely any RPG elements and it was still a great game. They have already stated they are making talent trees more detailed, and weapon mods are coming back. Removing the conversation wheel and paragon/renegade system would be completely changing the game structure. They already got rid of the Mako, planet exploring, and inventory system. The only thing they could possibly remove is...

OH MY GOD THEY ARE REMOVING PLANET SCANNING!!! WHY GOD WHY!?!?!

 

[kayisking]

Anytime someone working on the game says "shooter-meets-RPG", read it as: 'a shooter with dialog options'.

As if Mass Effect 2 wasn't dumbed down and turned into a first person shooter enough.

You are aware that it was third-person aren't you?

 

[Versuvius]

I do have to agree that using something other than the Mako pleased me like nothing that small should. The thing handled like it was made of helium filled papier mache obese crab

 

[Hive Mind]

Anytime someone working on the game says "shooter-meets-RPG", read it as: 'a shooter with dialog options'.

As if Mass Effect 2 wasn't dumbed down and turned into a first person shooter enough.

You are aware that it was third-person aren't you?

Yeah. Mistakes were made.

Someone pointed it out in a previous post. Read that if you wanna know why I screwed up.

 

[kayisking]

Holy crud muffins, if anyone wants to know what it's like to be dumbed down, read through some of these comments. 8( There are some intelligent ones, but I think I still managed to lose 12 IQ pts in the process. And it's not like I had that many to begin with...

It's a sad sad world when people jump to so many crazy conslusions when we've seen and heard nothing of the game but for a dozen or so screenshots and reassurances that it will be a nice marriage of the stat-whore elements from ME1 and the sleek ME2 combat.

EA is letting Bioware take more time to get the game right, most likely so they can release a mobile phone game shortly before or after its release. That's what I'm hearing, anyway.

ME2 won many GotY awards for a reason. (Hint: Cuz it was flipping awesome.) Bioware has now been working with the game engine for over 6 yrs. They've streamlined the development. The 2 yrs they've had to work on ME3 is going to effectively be more time than the 2 yrs they had to work on ME2. That means it's going to be the best of everything and will probably make my head asplode from awesomeness overload.

But by all means, let's just keep jumping to conclusions and hating on it. I give it another year, maybe two, before companies like Valve and Bioware just throw their hands up in the air and say "Screw it! We're making casual games from now on."

You, my man, are a very smart individual. We should not jump to conclusions just because of one or two comments. Besides, Mass Effect 2 was "dumbed down" and it was awesome, and way better than the first. Sure, the story was a little less focussed but the characters were better then ever and the dialouge was (as always) great. And while the combat might have leaned more toward a shooter then a RPG, it was both one of the best shooters and best RPG's of the year, so lets cut them some slack.

 

[kayisking]

Anytime someone working on the game says "shooter-meets-RPG", read it as: 'a shooter with dialog options'.

As if Mass Effect 2 wasn't dumbed down and turned into a first person shooter enough.

You are aware that it was third-person aren't you?

Yeah. Mistakes were made.

Someone pointed it out in a previous post. Read that if you wanna know why I screwed up.

Oops, didn't notice, my bad.

 

[The.Bard]

EA is letting Bioware take more time to get the game right, most likely so they can release a mobile phone game shortly before or after its release. That's what I'm hearing, anyway.

No, BioWare are being made to dumb the game down. It even says in the title: "EA Tweaking."

BioWare lost their integrity as a company as soon as EA bought them. At least I'll still have my memories.

Oops, my bad. Next time I'll learn to ignore the facts (note the "handheld/mobile" listing for ME3 in the chart):

http://wireless.ign.com/articles/116/1166041p1.html

... and learn to rely upon wild speculation. Oh, yes, and article titles. Because those are never half-truth exaggerations solely meant to draw readers in.

I'm sorry, but NONE of the facts in EA's statement declare that Bioware is "dumbing it down." It is pure, unadulterated, 100% assumptions from people on the interwebz. I think that sort of speculation is insane, and I refuse to acknowledge it as anything but the vapor trails of getting a little too much spiiiiice.

A handheld/mobile version, however, fits into this "wider audience" thing quite nicely, and until I hear otherwise, that's what I choose to believe.

If the game comes out and it sucks, then I will bow down to all of you haters for being so prescient.

If it's awesome, then congrats. You'll have spent half a year getting worked up for no reason whatsoever.