Mass Effect 3

[Da Orky Man]

Put it this way. I'm having to forcibly restrain myself from writing Mass Effect fanfiction.

 

[Erttheking]

I really cannot fathom why when a game company makes a change to a game, people rattle off about how "They're not staying true to their fans!" Or "they're dumbing it down for people that aren't true fans of this!" or the always popular "It's just Halo/Call of Duty/ Gears of War/ some game where they have two things in common!" You know when it comes to things like this, I like to think of something that my father told me once. "When you're in business, trying to market to one group and only one group is pretty much the most stupid thing that you could ever do." Bioware may care about its fans, but you sound like you expect them to sit around doing as we please for all eternity, and man that just isn't going to happen. I'll have you know that in fact when it comes to my father he isn't interested about stories and such so I may be able to finally get him into the franchise with that mode. What I really don't get is why you seem to be under the impression that this is what Bioware is bellowing at the top of their lungs in an attempt to get the game attention when in reality we only know about this mode because of a leak, the main selling points seem to be other things, such as the ability to decide the fate of every single species in the freaking galaxy, that's what I'm focusing on.

And I know I know, the mere fact that this is in the game is an insult to your intelligence because someone thought that it was a good idea...if you honestly think that Bioware is expecting pratically all of their veteran fans to jump into that mode and not even bother with the RPG mode then your opinion of the company must be shockingly low. This is a way for them to real new people into the franchise while staying true to their longtime fans, everyone wins. Jesus you act like they put in the RPG mode as an afterthought when in reality they probably put in Shooter and Theater mode as an afterthought. And I know what you're going to say "Money and time that they put into this could've been put elsewhere," and if Bioware was finishing up the game at the last minute with their last cent, that would actually mean something. And you conclusion that the rest of the game is filled with bad choices because of that one little thing is biased and unfounded. That's like saying "Armor Lock in Halo Reach was a bad idea, therefore the rest of the game is filled with stupid decisions." It may be, it may not be, the thing is you don't really know beacuse you only looked at a small part of the game.

I'm not trying to change your opinion, I'm just pointing out you seem to be getting worked up over an ungodly trival issue, if this is really going to ruin the game for you...then fine, don't buy the game. I can assure you I won't lose sleep over it.

Also I never played Dragon Age, I don't really care about it, and from what I heard a different team devloped it anyway.

Attempting to please everyone is already self defeating, that is what Bioware is attempting. I believe your misconstruing my words and adding unnecessary hyperbole to what I am saying.

I am only addressing the marketing portion of the game, not quality. I have not assessed a single part about the game's quality potentially, nor anything else. Mass Effect is attempting to be marketed to everyone at the same time.

Films do not do this, if you sit into a film pitch meeting they always state who their "Targeted Demographic" is. They have done this for almost a century, and films like Dramas are always marketed toward a specific group of people and not others, along with things like action films, romantic films etc. Games are very much the same way, and borrow much of their development focus from film production.

As to your conclusion that I don't know what the game's quality is based on because I am judging it on the one stupid decision that was made. Yes you caught me red handed, I am assuming that since the game is trying to be marketed to every single person I believed that it was going to be filled with gimmicky nonsense.

And I know what you're going to say "Money and time that they put into this could've been put elsewhere," and if Bioware was finishing up the game at the last minute with their last cent, that would actually mean something.

I don't believe you understand how games control budget. They try not to "use up every last cent" of budget. Whatever budget they have left over at the end they try and use for things that are actually useful and relevant. Like Bug testing and the like. A feature that allows you to completely skip one part of the game repeatedly requires a lot of testing because your removing a lot of code at the same time.

Again I stress that it's not so much the inclusion of the feature as much as it is the fact it was put into the game into the first place. It's obviously not the only thing that Bioware just put in because it would squeeze as much sales as physically possible, whilst also treating it's fans like they are livestock.

I end with a quote that Bill Cosby said that is still very true and relevant to the hubris of man.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

Call me crazy, but I don't think that an A.I. taking control of your character or the dialogue section being glazed over really takes that much out of a budget. You also said that when the game is done that they use what's left over to polish the game, again call me crazy but I'm sure that shooter and theater mode where born from that. Once again, the way that you're wording it you would think that Bioware was shouting this at the top of their lungs, but in reality we only learned about these things through a leak, so they're not really using this as their main marketing tactic. Also I'm pretty damn sure that Mass Effect isn't being marketed to everyone. Is it being marketed to puzzle fans? Sports fans? RTS fans? Sim fans? Flight combat fans? Guitar hero fans? No, it's marketing to two groups, RPG fans, and shooter fans, and I would like to point out that RPG elements and shooter elements have been a part of Mass Effect from the get go, the thing is not that everyone in those groups has bought the game for some reason or another. RPG fans because while the enjoy the story aspect, they don't like the combat of mass effect (I recall the ME1 combat being absolutely HORRIBLE, so I flipped the difficulty onto low and just blazed through it for the story, theater mode is just one more step in that direction. Shooter fans on the other hand may enjoy the combat sections of Mass Effect, but dislike the story (I recall on one of my play throughs of ME2, I was bored by the story that I had already heard and just clicked through the dialogue not even really listening to it, even on my first play through I found myself automatically heading to the Paragon/Renegade section without even really reading it in some cases, again, shooter mode is just one more step in that direction." Trying to please everyone is indeed the path to failure, but until Bioware does a complete 180 any suggestions that they are trying to do this will make me laugh, also there is a distance between trying to please everyone and expanding your audience. I enjoyed ME1's main story, but the combat was a freaking abomination. ME2 on the other hand I love to death, story, combat, characters, setting, I loved every last thing about it, in fact I'm convinced that ME2 actually improved the story and the game overall. I know that some people complain that it was shorter, but considering that half of the side quests in ME1 involved running around copy pasted bases and doing stuff I couldn't care less about, to me it's a matter of quantity vs quality.

"Treating it's fans like livestock"...screw it, I know a lost cause when I see one. If you have truly become so emotionally jaded that you believe that Bioware views it's customers as nothing more than cows to milk because of one tiny detail in a sea of information than I for one am sorry for you. Honestly, you think that they would stop making a beautiful story and a wonderful game because they care more about money? When was the last time that the ME team even hinted at that?

I would like to end with a quote of my own courtesy of Stephen Colbert
"Don't be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don't learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. 'Yes' is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes."

 

[McNinja]

I will hopefully have the Collectors Edition pre-ordered for me for my birthday. That being said, I'm expecting the game to be about as long as both ME1 and ME2 combined (so around 50-60 hours).

The Multiplayer better have splitscreen, or I will not play it. I don't care how good it is. I barely like MW3 online, and that's because I'm setting playing online Splitscreen with a friend against the rampage of magic and lag that is MW3 multiplayer.

 

[Ziggy]

I love Mass Effect, but if it turns out to be Origin exclusive on PC, it can burn in hell for all I care.

listen to this man for he speaks the truth. if Origin exclusive then it's a no no for me. and if it's not then i will still wait a a month, to see if it's another dragon age 2

 

[AD-Stu]

Sorry, I just don't understand this. At no point will you be forced to play the shooting-only or story-only modes - you'll still be playing the mode that lets you do all the things yourself. So how has your intelligence been insulted, exactly?

The fact it's in the game, a developer actually thought "This is a good idea, our producers like it, EA likes it, the sponsors like it, the fans will love it" and programmed it in, spent money on testing and having to code it into the game just screams waste of time. The fact this is in the game only proves the rest of the game is filled with more of these instances. Of tunnel vision or just lack of concern for quality. That is why it is insulting to my intelligence because it assumes I wont see something wrong with it.

Couldn't you say the exact same thing about difficulty settings on pretty much every game ever released? Automatic gearbox settings in racing games? Blizzard including cheats in Starcraft?

It's not like it would have taken a particularly long time to code or anything, so I hardly see it proving detrimental to the quality of the rest of the game...

 

[Ziggy]

I dont think you completely understand what everyone's riled up about.

It's not so much the game is going to have more combat elements as much as everyone's worried the pacing is going to be completely skewed. A big part of the Mass Effect experience has been exploring worlds, talking to characters and then eventually engaging in some epic battles. But it was always paced nicely so that the game didn't feel entirely like you were only doing one thing over another.

Everyone's worried that the game is going to feature more of the combat then it is the "Space Opera" moments that the series was advertised has having originally. RPG itself is already a subjective term but what everyone is focused on is they are hoping it's not just going to be a third person shooter, with stats and dialogue trees.

we've already had two games of Shepard wandering around doing odd jobs, exploring planets, talking to people. This third game is supposed to bring the Reaper vs. Everyone Else war to an end.

that would be like saying, "we just made 2 modern warfare games where you run around. let's make number 3 an RTS because it will show the big epic war". bad eksempel, sorry. i will be in the corner

 

[shrekfan246]

that would be like saying, "we just made 2 modern warfare games where you run around. let's make number 3 an RTS because it will show the big epic war". bad eksempel, sorry. i will be in the corner

I think a more apt comparison would be Final Fantasy. Setting X aside, the Final Fantasy games before XIII all had large, fairly open worlds with multiple cities and tons of NPCs that would give you a multitude of extra missions to complete. X had a rather closed world overall, but still kept the cities and people and quests for the most part. XIII surgically removed the open world, cities, and NPCs, replacing them with very beautiful but very linear corridors and then relegated all of the cities and NPCs to uninteractive cut-scenes. It was a considerable shift in style for the series, and many people didn't like it.

All appearances right now point to Mass Effect 3 still holding the same overall style as the first two games, merely embracing action a bit more than before. There has been no information stating that all of the dialogue and extra crap for Shepard to do have been removed from the game, only that the combat system has been heavily tweaked and improved and that there will be three different modes of gameplay to choose. I find nothing wrong with that. Apparently many other people do.

I like a good story-driven game just as much as the next guy, but hey, sometimes I just feel like shooting some aliens. People are deluding themselves if they think there are tons of other games on the market that are just like the Mass Effect series, even if you did remove all of the lengthy dialogue options.

 

[LordRoyal]

Sorry, I just don't understand this. At no point will you be forced to play the shooting-only or story-only modes - you'll still be playing the mode that lets you do all the things yourself. So how has your intelligence been insulted, exactly?

The fact it's in the game, a developer actually thought "This is a good idea, our producers like it, EA likes it, the sponsors like it, the fans will love it" and programmed it in, spent money on testing and having to code it into the game just screams waste of time. The fact this is in the game only proves the rest of the game is filled with more of these instances. Of tunnel vision or just lack of concern for quality. That is why it is insulting to my intelligence because it assumes I wont see something wrong with it.

Couldn't you say the exact same thing about difficulty settings on pretty much every game ever released? Automatic gearbox settings in racing games? Blizzard including cheats in Starcraft?

It's not like it would have taken a particularly long time to code or anything, so I hardly see it proving detrimental to the quality of the rest of the game...

No because those things are things people like and could conceivably like. This is just a result of development by committee.

 

[Laser Priest]

I'm rather pessimistic, and I don't know why. I loved the first two Mass Effect games.

I really want this one to be good, but for some reason, I am mostly expecting massive disappointment.

 

[Nostalgia Ripoff]

I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition. Unfortunately, I pre-ordered on Origin, so that's pretty much the one downside to me.

 

[Erttheking]

Sorry, I just don't understand this. At no point will you be forced to play the shooting-only or story-only modes - you'll still be playing the mode that lets you do all the things yourself. So how has your intelligence been insulted, exactly?

The fact it's in the game, a developer actually thought "This is a good idea, our producers like it, EA likes it, the sponsors like it, the fans will love it" and programmed it in, spent money on testing and having to code it into the game just screams waste of time. The fact this is in the game only proves the rest of the game is filled with more of these instances. Of tunnel vision or just lack of concern for quality. That is why it is insulting to my intelligence because it assumes I wont see something wrong with it.

Couldn't you say the exact same thing about difficulty settings on pretty much every game ever released? Automatic gearbox settings in racing games? Blizzard including cheats in Starcraft?

It's not like it would have taken a particularly long time to code or anything, so I hardly see it proving detrimental to the quality of the rest of the game...

No because those things are things people like and could conceivably like. This is just a result of development by committee.

...ok now you've just gone beyond reason and you've full out declared "No one will like this at all"...somehow I doubt that, you're coming off as extremely biased.

 

[AD-Stu]

Sorry, I just don't understand this. At no point will you be forced to play the shooting-only or story-only modes - you'll still be playing the mode that lets you do all the things yourself. So how has your intelligence been insulted, exactly?

The fact it's in the game, a developer actually thought "This is a good idea, our producers like it, EA likes it, the sponsors like it, the fans will love it" and programmed it in, spent money on testing and having to code it into the game just screams waste of time. The fact this is in the game only proves the rest of the game is filled with more of these instances. Of tunnel vision or just lack of concern for quality. That is why it is insulting to my intelligence because it assumes I wont see something wrong with it.

Couldn't you say the exact same thing about difficulty settings on pretty much every game ever released? Automatic gearbox settings in racing games? Blizzard including cheats in Starcraft?

It's not like it would have taken a particularly long time to code or anything, so I hardly see it proving detrimental to the quality of the rest of the game...

No because those things are things people like and could conceivably like. This is just a result of development by committee.

N'yeah... sorry, but I just can't buy that. You're categorically stating it's impossible that anyone will like a feature of a game that you haven't actually seen in action yet? That's not a rational response, especially since it's an option that's being included alongside the traditional "do everything" mode that I assume you're in favour of.

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I've already told my wife (who is an avid gamer herself) to think of all the stuff she wants BEFORE I start playing, because once I start I will not be happy to stop.

 

[Xixikal]

The lore.
I must know EVERYTHING. The Mass Effect world is so rich with information that I find myself swaying precariously at the Point of No Return as I wait hungrily for the ME3 disc to slip into my profusely sweating hands...

Okay, maybe not that intensely. But I won't deny my love of worlds thick with lore and I rely on Bioware to deliver.

 

[sage42]

I reallllllllllllly want to get it, not as much as I wanted Skyrim but still. So I realllllllllllllly hope they don't screw us over with Origin. Plus I'm actually looking forward to the multiplayer, Hopefully I'll be able to play as a quarian infiltrator. That'd be sweeeeeet.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

I thought ME 1 was pertty damn good and I absolutely loved ME2. Of course I'm looking forward to the third installment.

 

[feriwan]

I really can't wait.
It's the first game I'm going to buy right when it comes out, and possibly the first game that I'll get the special edition of.
I'm also very fast to accept things, unless they're really horrible.
For example: I liked Star Wars the Force Unleashed II, I'm just sad it was so short...

Basically I'm super excited!