The Artisan
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The Mass Effect Community Thread
- Thread starter shinobi602
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No- I live in Canada, I'm attending a general European tech conference that's being hosted there this year.
The Artisan
Member
oh I see. that sounds like it'll be fun. i'll just be my lousy self at work. maybe i'll wear the hoodie again that day.
some people asked where my costume is. i'm like, i'm wearing it. they're like, what is it? and i'm like, i'm commander shepard of the normandy.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Would be a good way to further diversify the classes, though it'd be tricky to balance open world vs. tactical skills from a development perspective; you don't want to get into a situation where users feel obliged to handicap themselves in combat because they need that Engineering traversal move. Could just make it a separate tree, I suppose.
On that topic, I really, really hope we get more class-specific dialogue options and interrupts.
As is, I don't think they'd gate off main story content behind stuff that requires class-based skills, but I could see a reliance on bringing the right classes and skills to some side-quests/ side-content.
Poodlestrike
Banned
See, that sorta smacks of the dialogue skill problem. Bringing the right classes is fine, since that adds to replay value, but gating content behind skill points just makes me feel like I'm being obliged to dump points in Persuade to avoid bad outcomes all over again.
The Artisan
Member
i heard that they're not bringing back paragon/renegade, are they replacing it with something else or are choices going to be fundamentally different now?
I think you're misunderstanding me- when I say skills I mean inherent abilities of a class sitting outside its skill tree. Like how mages can clear rubble or warriors can kick down walls.
I haven't seen this yet. Got a link so I can read up on it?
shinobi602
Member
There will still be choices, but the system is a little different this time.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Ahhhh yeah, that'd be fine. As long as it's outside of the skill tree I'm 100% down for it. You could do a lot of cool stuff with that in missions. Like, there's a hostage situation where you're forced to choose between who gets killed, unless you have... say, a Vanguard charge to get across an otherwise impassable gap, in which case you can get there in time to save everybody. Tie the story of the mission (and any followups) to the class as well for bonus points, so biotics would get an edge in biotic-related conflicts and so on.
Not sure how I feel about leaning on "shades of grey," tbh. Most writers end up turning it into Grey vs. Black, effectively axing the good guys and just making everybody suck to varying degrees. That said, I did like how it was in ME3, where persuasion wasn't tied to the extremes of the morality meter. Allowed for much more natural roleplaying. If they can replicate that sense I'll be happy.
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
Oh I'm sure they don't care about criticisms in regards to DAI cuz a lot of people actually liked this... god damn game. They only care about fanboys, people who liked the game and those people that gave this game and absolutely undeservedly GOTY award.
It would be a HUGE mistake and I really don't like Gears of War at all. But they won't go that way, I'm sure of it.
The Artisan
Member
Hm...how will it be different? Or is that being kept as a surprise? I guess there won't be a dialogue wheel where the good/bad choices are top/bottom?
as long as there ain't 50 of em right?
hm, it's funny that you say that because Patryn says Me3 made dialogue choices meaningless. I'd like to hear more insight from both your and his opinions.
how do you figure that?
i agree. no disrespect to gow but I don't want ME to become just that.
Poodlestrike
Banned
Guess I misunderstood you, Agent.
Artisan, it's like this: by decoupling Persuade from Paragon/Renegade, the player was no longer compelled to go all one or all the other if they wanted to secure their preferred outcomes; they could play the way they wanted to play. At least, that's the way I felt. Being able to punch that dick Quarian who started blowing up the Dreadnaught while I was still on it felt GREAT, and I was able to do it because I no longer needed to goody two shoes my way through the game.
Artisan, it's like this: by decoupling Persuade from Paragon/Renegade, the player was no longer compelled to go all one or all the other if they wanted to secure their preferred outcomes; they could play the way they wanted to play. At least, that's the way I felt. Being able to punch that dick Quarian who started blowing up the Dreadnaught while I was still on it felt GREAT, and I was able to do it because I no longer needed to goody two shoes my way through the game.
DeadlyParasite
Member
Mmm, I've stated my opinions here many times about the removal of Paragon/Renegade and how I hate games that pigeonhold the player into neutrality choices where no answer is right and how boring that is (The Witcher, Dragon Age, Deus Ex). I like being the good guy, I don't like choices that are neither good or bad. I play videogames, specially RPG's, to be a hero.
Yeah, what did the Paragon & Renegade bar even do in ME3? I mean, i took the choices I wanted while playing(unlike ME1 and ME2 where you mostly stick to one side) and I still could select the few blue/red choices I saw during the game.
I did not say this. I said that Paragon and Renegade were reduced to meaninglessness.
Paragon/Reneged != dialogue choices.
And what I meant was that both fed into the same bar. It ended up not mattering which you picked, as long as you picked what I call an "important" choice. You could have removed the names Paragon and Renegade, removed the red and blue, and highlighted all those choices with the same color and called them Reputation choices and you'd have the same effect.
They have to show more. We need to at least see the galaxy/planet navigation and how the combat works.
This doesn't fit BioWare's MO, at all. If anything, they overreact to criticism and overcorrect.
If we only get a 3 minute trailer, Bioware seriously fucked up.
They need a blowout on the scale of Fallout 4's. So I'm talking 20+ minutes of gameplay, full overview of all systems, and introduction of several companions, in addition to release date.
If they only show 3 minutes, then it truly will be a Fall 2017 game and they have been lying this entire time. But I honestly don't think that's what's going to happen.
cartographer
Member
Yeah that point made zero sense to me and seemed pretty funny considering how much DA:I is a reaction to criticisms of DA2, in both good and bad ways.
?? Really?
DA:I was initially very disappointing, but I'd love to give it a try with all the DLC, especially after your post since I really liked Origins. Shame getting the DLC will cost me another 60 euros, kinda hard to justify the purchase(s).
N7 day is only a week away today. I'm so excited to jump back into Mass Effect!
If all Bioware gives us is a 5-minute trailer, I'm going to be pissed. I'm expecting nothing less then a ton of gameplay (combat, the Mako, exploration), reveal of (some) your companions, information on some of the features in the game (the Mako, the Tempest, etc). This really is Bioware's best opportunity to really showcase Andromeda, so this really is it.
If Bioware delayed Andromeda to Fall 2017 on N7 day, it would honestly be a big "fuck you" to the fans. Thankfully, I think Bioware is going to stick to their Spring 2017 release schedule. A release date around March 20-26 would just be about perfect.
If all Bioware gives us is a 5-minute trailer, I'm going to be pissed. I'm expecting nothing less then a ton of gameplay (combat, the Mako, exploration), reveal of (some) your companions, information on some of the features in the game (the Mako, the Tempest, etc). This really is Bioware's best opportunity to really showcase Andromeda, so this really is it.
If Bioware delayed Andromeda to Fall 2017 on N7 day, it would honestly be a big "fuck you" to the fans. Thankfully, I think Bioware is going to stick to their Spring 2017 release schedule. A release date around March 20-26 would just be about perfect.
I wouldn't necessarily take my word for it. Firstly, DAI wins out because I play these games on console, and DAI's action combat is so far above DAO's that I can't find the latter enjoyable to play anymore. On PC, I'd likely enjoy Origins' combat more.
For reasons why I think DLC helped DAI:
1. Better ratio of beefy content. Even Jaws of Hakkon, a suped up version of an Inquisition zone, is done much better. The main zone quest actually takes you all over the zone, which in turn makes side questing seem far less tedious since you're visiting these places for the main quest anyway. The side quests themselves are better written, although they don't approach TW3 or FONV levels. Descent is probably structured most similarly to an Origins hub, with a base and scattered side quests in a mostly linear romp through well-designed levels. It's structured very similarly to the Brecilian Forest quest chain in DAO, if that helps. Trespasser is similar but way longer with a ton more story/character content and almost no collection quests.
2. Combat/gameplay. Trespasser adds a second potential upgrade to every ability in the game, many of them transforming the skill in some significant way. For example, Ice Wall becomes an Ice Ring in which you can trap an enemy, rogue dodge becomes a short-range teleport, poison blades heal your character, etc. It really adds a lot of depth and build variety. Secondly, Trespasser adds Trials, which are optional mods players can turn on that each make the game more difficult in some way in return for special rewards you can receive. Examples include certain enemies being promoted to elite, all exp being halved, potions only healing for 1 HP, bears all being ridiculously hard, etc. It goes a long way to solving the game becoming way too easy, even on Nightmare.
With all that being said, if you hated vanilla Inquisition, the DLCs won't drastically alter the core structure of the game.
Really?
I'm expecting the first proper trailer, I mean, an EPIC FUCKING TRAILER, maybe a little more footage, release date, cover art, collector's edition, a lot of screenshots, some companion info, then previews from major sites, GameInformer already teased MEA as the next cover story and BioWare producers went on a tour showing the game.
I mean, how that would work? I don't think that BioWare is gonna make a livestream or release a lot of videos at once, Fallout 4 had a conference.
Then trailers/gameplay in all the upcoming shows like The Game Awards and the PSX.
Then, in january-february more trailers and gameplay videos like the ones you are mentioning.
The Artisan
Member
alright, I guess I misunderstood. So even if you did things the paragon way, you could end up still doing shit with renegade even if most of the time you were not?
Correct. All choices are available to you, as long as you keep making either choice along the way.
This is most evident in the final Illusive Man confrontation where as long as you picked either Renegade or Paragon in each of your prior conversations with him, both Paragon and Renegade options are available to convince him to commit suicide.
If you have enough reputation to make one option show up, the other option will also show up.
Why wouldn't they have a livestream?
I personally found the DLC for DA:I to be some of the best content.
Jaws of Hakkon is a wonderful self-contained area that shows they could have taken an area like the Hinterlands and woven a narrative that covers the entire area and drives your exploration.
Trespasser is the true ending to the game. Much in the same way that Citadel provided proper closure to Mass Effect 3, so too does Trespasser, on top of also resolving a bunch of hanging plot threads, as well as having revelations of such magnitude that it completely changes the context of the base game's story and makes you realize that it's not quite about what you thought it was about. It's potentially the most important piece of content in any of the Dragon Age games, honestly, and Dragon Age 4 will DEFINITELY be about picking up the pieces following the end of Trespasser. It seriously changed my opinion of DA:I from I like it quite to a bit to I really fucking love it.
The Descent is alright. It's also got some interesting revelations, and the combat stuff can be pretty fun, but if you had to skip one it's the one I would skip.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I don't think N7 will be an insane blowout, so much as the beginning of the marketing push. Something like a proper trailer that actually reveals the game's premise, combat, story, exploration, characters, etc. We still don't really have that. I also think they'll talk about the product itself, like release date, to give the marketing push a window. And then we'll get previews from magazines and websites, like we did with Mass Effect 3's reveal.
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
They've fixed some of the problems that DA2 had for sure, but ultimately they've ruined the game in a lot of ways to the point that it's not even fun to play at all.
And look, I've spent 65 hours playing this game, so it's not like I've watched this game on Youtube or Twitch and haven't played this game at all and haven't seen with my own eyes how bad it actually is when compared to DAO, and no, I haven't spent 15-20 hours in Hinterlands... it's 5-6 hours at best. The only good thing I can say about this game is that the enviroments look great, I really like some of the characters and thats abouit it unfortunately.
Now, I know some of you will ask me - but why on earth you've spent 65 hours playing this game if you really don't like it? Well, the answers is simple - I had hope that maybe the more I play the game the more I will like it and maybe eventually it'll become much better than it actually is, but nope. So, after 65 hours I stopped playing and will never be playing this game again in my life.
What he said and this opinion are not mutually exclusive. He said that Bioware overreacts to criticism, and I don't think it can be argued that DA:I is a drastic overhaul of the series, especially after DA2.
Just because you don't like the changes they made doesn't mean they didn't make changes.
It's entirely possible that you won't like some of the changes they made in response to DA:I criticisms.
However you can at least take heart in knowing that it's a different team working on ME:A, and they've said that they won't be the same as DA:I. Regardless, 6 days until we get a better idea.
6 days left.
Hopefully they will tell us what they have planned later this week.
They might leave something for PSX as well since they appear on the back of the Pro box.
As for DAI it's my favourite game so far this generation with the most hours clocked of all my games. I think I have clocked 400 hours over 2 playthroughs. I plan on one more playthrough to get the highest difficultly trophy.
Hopefully they will tell us what they have planned later this week.
They might leave something for PSX as well since they appear on the back of the Pro box.
As for DAI it's my favourite game so far this generation with the most hours clocked of all my games. I think I have clocked 400 hours over 2 playthroughs. I plan on one more playthrough to get the highest difficultly trophy.
Speaking of DA:I, I hope the ME:A team learns a lesson from it and either balances the experience gain such that you aren't wildly over-leveled if you're a completionist, or include something like the Take It Slow trial, where it halves the XP gain.
I can only play DA:I at this point with Take It Slow, lest I hit the level cap about 2/3 of the way through the game.
I can only play DA:I at this point with Take It Slow, lest I hit the level cap about 2/3 of the way through the game.
The Artisan
Member
fuck I never noticed that. but i think that's better, actually
whatever Me4's won't be the same but maybe an evolution of this of some sort, you know
I just finished up a run of 1 and 2, but then I went on a short vacation and it killed my momentum for 3.
I think I'm more likely to do a run of DA:I again than ME right now.
The Artisan
Member
Poodlestrike
Banned
Not until they finally get around to adding 2 and 3 to X1 BC.
how the fuck am I supposed to do that without a remastered trilogy on Ps4
Right. I forgot not everyone can easily replay them unless they have a PC or still hold onto their old consoles.
I didn't hate it exactly, I just thought it was disappointing, so I'll def keep an eye on the DLC. Maybe they'll go on sale during Christmas or something.
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