For all the Bioware and ME 3 bashing topics out there, I think it's about time we get a positive topic on the matter.
Summary for all the TL/DR whiners out there: If you don't like to read, get off the internet. There's plenty of articles on this site with 2,3, even 4 pages worth of text and I don't see you TL/DR'ing those.
That said, I WANT Mass Effect 3. As in the last game that I've wanted this much was Mass Effect 2. Sure there's been games that I've looked forward to getting, but not like this. No other game gets me all giddy and excited when I watch one of the developement videos. Hell, I just got done watching the Voice Cast video for ME 3 and it made me wish the month of February didn't exist. Quite simply, the Mass Effect series has easily been my favorite series of games on this console generation. And quite frankly, pretty much all of the criticism for a game that hasn't even come out yet just seems very nit-picky if you ask me.
Yes, they got a chick from IGN to play an insubstantial part in the game. Yes, she's wearing what appears to be a female lifeguard's swimsuit...whoop-de-frickin'-do. Is that REALLY that big of a deal? Do you honestly believe that Bioware put her in there and made her that way as a selling point? As if to say "No one's going to buy this game unless we get some more eye candy in there!"
Yes, there is a crap-ton of mini-DLC available on various Mass Effect products. It's called merchandising, folks. Do you have any idea how popular the Mass Effect series is? Can you blame them for thinking "You know what? People love these frickin' games. They love these frickin' characters. We could probably do well by selling action figures and art books. And to sweeten the deal, lets give them some guns and costumes they can download along with these products." Look at the original Star Wars trilogy and all the merchandise that came from those. It's alright for Lucas to make a kick-ass trilogy and then start selling action figures and what-not with it, but it's not alright for Bioware to do the same? Do you honestly believe that people would be buying any of this merchandise SPECIFICALLY FOR the DLC that comes attached with it? If you do, I think that says a LOT more about the stupidity of the consumer than it says about the greed of the company. Quite simply if you're buying the action figures and art books, you're doing so because you love the series and want to collect memorabilia of said series, not because "Damnit I want Garrus to have an extra costume!" At least I'd seriously have to hope that wouldn't be your motivation.
Yes, there is a multiplayer function. A lot of the rage focused at this seems to mirror a lot of the rage that was focused at the way Dragon Age 2 told it's story. Apparently we get bored to tears and complain when things are cliche or overused...and yet when someone does try something new we rage and say they're butchering the series. That's all this multiplayer is: something new. Bioware has taken every opportunity to explain that the multiplayer is in no way manditory, you will still be able to get the best possible ending in single player even if you wholely ignore the multiplayer. The multiplayer aspect is something that fans of the series have been inquiring about since the very first game. Personally I think having an optional multiplayer that can effect the single player but is not manditory for the single player is a very good common-ground. Now you can have fun in the ME universe with 3 of your friends...how is that a bad thing?
Yes, it gives you a choice of playing the game like every other ME game before it, playing the game with all dialogue choices made for you, or playing the game with combat rendered inconsequential. Last I checked, my fellow Escapists, choice was a good thing. And guess what? You get to pick which one you like! That kinda goes hand-in-hand with the whole "having a choice" deal. If you want to play ME 3 the same way you played ME 1 and 2, then just click on that setting and ignore the other two. Some people, however, might be thoroughly enjoying the Mass Effect story and might not care so-much about the combat...that's their preference and who are you to judge them for it? Same goes with the people who just really like the combat portions and don't want to be hasseled with the conversation wheel. So yeah, pick your flavor of ME 3 and enjoy the game the way you want to enjoy it.
I've even heard the complaint "Looks like the combat is a lot more like Gears of War." Ummmmmm....have you forgotten the combat from the first to games? Wasn't it all duck-and-cover based combat? Maybe everyone complaining about this played the first two games on super-retarded-easy and thus was able to just wade through combat with the greatest of ease...but personally I recall spending too much time out of cover meant you'd get your face blown off. So what's the complaint here? Shepard can now perform a rolling dodge? How is this a bad thing? Are you so determined to hate this game you haven't even played yet that you're complaining about a new feature in combat? Shepard's omnitool can now turn into a blade too, but I don't see people complaining about that.
So quite frankly I just don't see where all this pre-emptive hate for Mass Effect 3 is coming from. Maybe people just loathe EA, and quite frankly I can't blame you. But you do realize that they have very little to do with the actual developement of the game, right? They're pretty much there for marketing and promotional purposes. Maybe people have lost faith in Bioware because (apparently) many gamers couldn't fully grasp the great new things experimented with in Dragon Age 2 because said gamers were stuck on the fact that yes, every frickin' dungeon is exactly the frickin' same. But that's no reason to start hating on a game that you haven't even played yet when, at least in my humble opinion, both of the preceding games have been absolute gold!
No game is without it's faults, and Mass Effect is far from flawless. But I don't care. I don't care about anything the haters have to say. I don't care about the fact that they brought in a chick from IGN to voice one of the characters in the game. To me none of the things that the coplainers complain about are a big deal, and they certainly aren't a deterant when it comes to how much I desperately crave ME 3.
So seriously people, why all the hate? Can we not give a game a chance before we've actually played it? Now if ME 3 comes out and is just one big steaming pile of poo, I'll be in the front line of the riot marching on Bioware's HQ with torches and pitchforks calling for blood. All I'm asking is that we wait to play a game before we crucify it.
/rant
Summary for all the TL/DR whiners out there: If you don't like to read, get off the internet. There's plenty of articles on this site with 2,3, even 4 pages worth of text and I don't see you TL/DR'ing those.
That said, I WANT Mass Effect 3. As in the last game that I've wanted this much was Mass Effect 2. Sure there's been games that I've looked forward to getting, but not like this. No other game gets me all giddy and excited when I watch one of the developement videos. Hell, I just got done watching the Voice Cast video for ME 3 and it made me wish the month of February didn't exist. Quite simply, the Mass Effect series has easily been my favorite series of games on this console generation. And quite frankly, pretty much all of the criticism for a game that hasn't even come out yet just seems very nit-picky if you ask me.
Yes, they got a chick from IGN to play an insubstantial part in the game. Yes, she's wearing what appears to be a female lifeguard's swimsuit...whoop-de-frickin'-do. Is that REALLY that big of a deal? Do you honestly believe that Bioware put her in there and made her that way as a selling point? As if to say "No one's going to buy this game unless we get some more eye candy in there!"
Yes, there is a crap-ton of mini-DLC available on various Mass Effect products. It's called merchandising, folks. Do you have any idea how popular the Mass Effect series is? Can you blame them for thinking "You know what? People love these frickin' games. They love these frickin' characters. We could probably do well by selling action figures and art books. And to sweeten the deal, lets give them some guns and costumes they can download along with these products." Look at the original Star Wars trilogy and all the merchandise that came from those. It's alright for Lucas to make a kick-ass trilogy and then start selling action figures and what-not with it, but it's not alright for Bioware to do the same? Do you honestly believe that people would be buying any of this merchandise SPECIFICALLY FOR the DLC that comes attached with it? If you do, I think that says a LOT more about the stupidity of the consumer than it says about the greed of the company. Quite simply if you're buying the action figures and art books, you're doing so because you love the series and want to collect memorabilia of said series, not because "Damnit I want Garrus to have an extra costume!" At least I'd seriously have to hope that wouldn't be your motivation.
Yes, there is a multiplayer function. A lot of the rage focused at this seems to mirror a lot of the rage that was focused at the way Dragon Age 2 told it's story. Apparently we get bored to tears and complain when things are cliche or overused...and yet when someone does try something new we rage and say they're butchering the series. That's all this multiplayer is: something new. Bioware has taken every opportunity to explain that the multiplayer is in no way manditory, you will still be able to get the best possible ending in single player even if you wholely ignore the multiplayer. The multiplayer aspect is something that fans of the series have been inquiring about since the very first game. Personally I think having an optional multiplayer that can effect the single player but is not manditory for the single player is a very good common-ground. Now you can have fun in the ME universe with 3 of your friends...how is that a bad thing?
Yes, it gives you a choice of playing the game like every other ME game before it, playing the game with all dialogue choices made for you, or playing the game with combat rendered inconsequential. Last I checked, my fellow Escapists, choice was a good thing. And guess what? You get to pick which one you like! That kinda goes hand-in-hand with the whole "having a choice" deal. If you want to play ME 3 the same way you played ME 1 and 2, then just click on that setting and ignore the other two. Some people, however, might be thoroughly enjoying the Mass Effect story and might not care so-much about the combat...that's their preference and who are you to judge them for it? Same goes with the people who just really like the combat portions and don't want to be hasseled with the conversation wheel. So yeah, pick your flavor of ME 3 and enjoy the game the way you want to enjoy it.
I've even heard the complaint "Looks like the combat is a lot more like Gears of War." Ummmmmm....have you forgotten the combat from the first to games? Wasn't it all duck-and-cover based combat? Maybe everyone complaining about this played the first two games on super-retarded-easy and thus was able to just wade through combat with the greatest of ease...but personally I recall spending too much time out of cover meant you'd get your face blown off. So what's the complaint here? Shepard can now perform a rolling dodge? How is this a bad thing? Are you so determined to hate this game you haven't even played yet that you're complaining about a new feature in combat? Shepard's omnitool can now turn into a blade too, but I don't see people complaining about that.
So quite frankly I just don't see where all this pre-emptive hate for Mass Effect 3 is coming from. Maybe people just loathe EA, and quite frankly I can't blame you. But you do realize that they have very little to do with the actual developement of the game, right? They're pretty much there for marketing and promotional purposes. Maybe people have lost faith in Bioware because (apparently) many gamers couldn't fully grasp the great new things experimented with in Dragon Age 2 because said gamers were stuck on the fact that yes, every frickin' dungeon is exactly the frickin' same. But that's no reason to start hating on a game that you haven't even played yet when, at least in my humble opinion, both of the preceding games have been absolute gold!
No game is without it's faults, and Mass Effect is far from flawless. But I don't care. I don't care about anything the haters have to say. I don't care about the fact that they brought in a chick from IGN to voice one of the characters in the game. To me none of the things that the coplainers complain about are a big deal, and they certainly aren't a deterant when it comes to how much I desperately crave ME 3.
So seriously people, why all the hate? Can we not give a game a chance before we've actually played it? Now if ME 3 comes out and is just one big steaming pile of poo, I'll be in the front line of the riot marching on Bioware's HQ with torches and pitchforks calling for blood. All I'm asking is that we wait to play a game before we crucify it.
/rant
Beat me to the response, I was going to quote him and say the same thing about not being able to give away much of the story without giving out spoilers.
