Mass Effect BioWare Montreal's Mass Effect: Andromeda - where element zero meets trisomy 21

[Iznaliu]

The plot is incoherent and retarded

The people working on it likely didn't care about anything but their salary.

 

[J1M]

Whelp:

http://gematsu.com/2017/03/bioware-share-plans-address-mass-effect-andromeda-feedback-april-4

To Our Players

It’s been a week since we officially launched Mass Effect: Andromeda worldwide, and we couldn’t be more excited that our fans are finally experiencing everything we’ve worked so hard to create.

We’ve received quite a bit of feedback, some of it positive and some of it critical. That feedback is an important part of our ongoing support of the game, and we can’t wait to share more of our immediate plans with you on Tuesday, April 4.

In the meantime, keep your feedback coming. Our team is listening, working around the clock to gather information and plan out solutions to improve and build on Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Thanks for your continued support and for joining us on this journey.

"... some of it positive and some of it critical..." What an understatement.

"Can't wait", but reveals nothing for 5 days. What a strong command of the language this PR drone has.

 

[Kirkpatrick]

Problem is a sequel is determined by sales which are apparently dismal.

Any news about that? Just how abysmal are they?

 

[Multiple Sarcasm]

Problem is a sequel is determined by sales which are apparently dismal.

Any news about that? Just how abysmal are they?

Wouldn't be surprised if the game turned a profit anyway. In this age of indiscriminate spending, ironical shit-eating and pandemic SJWism of the temporal lobe, anything is possible. Except nice things - those are verboten.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Nothing in this game's plot, story, characters or anything in between is the least bit compelling.

Have we found our neutral-positive quote for the RPGCodex's Steam recommended list?

 

[cvv]

Problem is a sequel is determined by sales which are apparently dismal.

Any news about that? Just how abysmal are they?

Mass Effect: Andromeda launched earlier this month to mixed reviews, with criticism directed at its inconsistent writing, mission variety, and its infamous facial animations that appear to be a step down from what was offered in the previous games. The game has opened to relatively disappointing sales in the United Kingdom, with physical sales behind that of Mass Effect 3.


Mass Effect: Andromeda is currently behind both Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Horizon: Zero Dawn in total 2017 game sales.

Then again nobody buys physical copies today, even the konsolistas buy digital. But even then it is somewhat revealing.

 

[Rahdulan]

How very reassuring of Bioware.

 

[ArchAngel]

How very reassuring of Bioware.

Look, at least they admitted game has faults which is more than Fargo did for TToN.

 

[Atlantico]

Well this shitstorm is a few magnitudes higher and escalated far quicker than when Inquisition was released. Bioware didn't say anything like this about DA:I until a month or two after release - and then only on the BSN forums to attempt to appease the most disappointed buyers.

There's blood in the water, boys!

:australia:

 

[Juggie]

Andromeda's multiplayer is not only very similar to ME3 multiplayer, it has severe technical issues of its own.

The game plays terribly when there's noticeable delay between you and the host. Might be some cheat protection, but it's not uncommon to be constantly teleporting back a few inches and your actions being delayed or cancelled. Never had this problem in ME3.

For some reason certain people are unable to host games in MEA. I wanted to play this with a friend of mine and we are able to join each other's lobbies but neither of us get any other players join the lobby if we host. Random lobbies you join usually fill up quicker than you can invite anyone so it's near impossible for some people to play with their buddies. Again this was not an issue in ME3.

Being near copy of its predecessor's MP, it also inherits shitty features like super grindy, random progression system; grand total of 3 different objective types plus kill all enemies and extract; no text chat, here also coupled with mandatory voice chat and the fact that many players don't care about cooperation and only farm as many point as possible. Makes me wonder why anyone, me included, bothers with the MP when there are less bad games that offer similar style of gameplay (Warframe for example).

 

[cvv]

Well this shitstorm is a few magnitudes higher and escalated far quicker than when Inquisition was released.

There was already murmur but Bioware still got away with their terribly written MMO crap because back then open world was the shit and DAI was Bioware's first open-world-ish game and it was new and big and AAA and everyone was willing to gloss over the fact it's empty, dull and inane and that all the talent, vision and ambition from the Muzyka&Zeschuk's era has gone with the Bioware founders. And all that's left is the stale swamp of the commercial average.

I guess this time around even mainstream journo sellouts lost their patience with Bioware shit. You can only pretend a burned-out star is still the trailblazing nova of the industry for so long.

 

[calgary.alberta]

Bioware fix something, hahaha

History of there games they barely released patches, even the Mass Effect 3 ending DLC took a year. These guys can't patch shit

 

[Hellion]

DA:I had received extra "points" for actually feeling like a game set in a familiar setting - you finally visited famous areas that had been established in the game's lore since Origins, you met familiar characters, you concluded storylines that had opened in the first game, and in general it felt like a DA game despite the shitty elements.

Andromeda retains and enlarges said shitty elements, but the new location/setting effectively reduces any familiarity to "heh, Asari, I know that species".

 

[ColonelTeacup]

And that is wrong why exactly?

Because this whole "i'm offended, boycott them!" is silly.

Exercising your rights as a consumer, to a company that is trying to sell you their product is silly to you? Boycotting merchandise is the oldest defense consumers have against companies. In what world is it silly to vote with your wallet and make a strong statement to a company that wants your money that you are not pleased with the product or the way their employees are acting?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

And that is wrong why exactly?

Because this whole "i'm offended, boycott them!" is silly.

Exercising your rights as a consumer, to a company that is trying to sell you their product is silly to you? Boycotting merchandise is the oldest defense consumers have against companies. In what world is it silly to vote with your wallet and make a strong statement to a company that wants your money that you are not pleased with the product or the way their employees are acting?

I think he's probably ticked off because that's what SJWs do.

Thing is, what SJWs do isn't a real boycott. It's complaining - often about a product they wouldn't have bought anyway - and using media/corporate ties to create pressure in the form of a manufactured controversy over nothing. Case and point, the Dead Or Alive series.

Real boycotts from actual consumers (gamers) are just what the industry needs. Shut down the studios who repeatedly allow this SJW nonsense and make room for studios that care about their actual customers more than political brownie points.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

And that is wrong why exactly?

Because this whole "i'm offended, boycott them!" is silly.

Exercising your rights as a consumer, to a company that is trying to sell you their product is silly to you? Boycotting merchandise is the oldest defense consumers have against companies. In what world is it silly to vote with your wallet and make a strong statement to a company that wants your money that you are not pleased with the product or the way their employees are acting?

I think he's probably ticked off because that's what SJWs do.

Thing is, what SJWs do isn't a real boycott. It's complaining - often about a product they wouldn't have bought anyway - and using media/corporate ties to create pressure in the form of a manufactured controversy over nothing. Case and point, the Dead Or Alive series.

Real boycotts from actual consumers (gamers) are just what the industry needs. Shut down the studios who repeatedly allow this SJW nonsense and make room for studios that care about their actual customers more than political brownie points.

Agreed. Actual boycotts would set things back on the right track. As for the SJW companies, they seem to be doing that themselves. I'm not certain what the correlation between terrible developers and SJW ideologies is, but it would seem that just about every game made by blatant SJW developers ends up becoming terrible. The only exception I can think of is Horizon Zero Dawn, which I found dull, but became popular with the PS4 crowd.

 

[Freddie]

ME3 multiplayer won hearts and minds of many a player, even those who harbored life long hatred for multiplayering. It's not that MEA multiplayer is bad. More like it's.....exactly the fucking same. It's completely copy pasted in its basic designs and concepts. Most enemies are basically reskins of ME3.

The only question left on my mind as I watch the end titles is - MEA or Fallout 4, which one is more embarrassing?

So that's it. No reason reason to buy this. Thanks for review.

Actually, the jetpack can still make a difference in the multiplayer experience. So for 5-10 bucks it could be worth the try.

How is the multiplayer going? Are there players and do you think it has staying power?

With this fantastic base game BW made, there is a chance that MP won't get much expansions.

 

[cvv]

How is the multiplayer going? Are there players and do you think it has staying power?

MP is pretty packed right now, virtually no waiting. As for staying power, no idea. As I said, it's pretty much exactly the same as ME3 MP. Total copy-paste. Plus there are serious balance problems right now. Like for instance - in ME3 MP you wanted to play because it was fun but also because you wanted to get more money, buy more pack and get more weapons which were very diverse, unique and interesting.

Guns in MEA MP feel all the same - they're all equally gimped as fuck. As if Bioware pre-emptively nerfed everything to the ground. You have to stand in front of a mob and empty a full clip into his forehead to kill him - on Bronze. On Gold you barely tickle them. So right now it's the punching meta since melee escaped the nerf and it's the only relatively fast way to kill the baddies before they swarm you. Hordes of adepts and vanguards zooming around the arena punching mobs to death. It's fucking ridiculous, then again ME3 MP right after the launch was a mess too so we'll see.

 

[Freddie]

Andromeda's multiplayer is not only very similar to ME3 multiplayer, it has severe technical issues of its own.

The game plays terribly when there's noticeable delay between you and the host. Might be some cheat protection, but it's not uncommon to be constantly teleporting back a few inches and your actions being delayed or cancelled. Never had this problem in ME3.

For some reason certain people are unable to host games in MEA. I wanted to play this with a friend of mine and we are able to join each other's lobbies but neither of us get any other players join the lobby if we host. Random lobbies you join usually fill up quicker than you can invite anyone so it's near impossible for some people to play with their buddies. Again this was not an issue in ME3.

Being near copy of its predecessor's MP, it also inherits shitty features like super grindy, random progression system; grand total of 3 different objective types plus kill all enemies and extract; no text chat, here also coupled with mandatory voice chat and the fact that many players don't care about cooperation and only farm as many point as possible. Makes me wonder why anyone, me included, bothers with the MP when there are less bad games that offer similar style of gameplay (Warframe for example).

Didn't read this before posting my previous post.

So there's lag / synchronisation issues. Netcode might be bugged what comes to creating games. Great.

How grindy it's exactly in comparison to ME3 MP? What comes to cooperation, well that happens in pugs. Is soloing missions still possible? One thing I liked was developing from being carried to being a carrier. That said, my reflexes are of course even worse than few years ago, so team aspect is kinda important.

Warframe, I tried it after I read that it's similar to ME MP, but for me it lost it's charm pretty fast. After few levels it was basically optimization, grindy like hell, I recall someone who had like 30 Loki helmets... Way worse drop rate for useful things than ME3 MP. Some cool concepts and some effort to make it real in mission design, which however fell short because they weren't developed but just thrown in the game. I could go on with the list but to make it short, I'm not autistic enough. Not my cup of tea.

 

[Freddie]

How is the multiplayer going? Are there players and do you think it has staying power?

MP is pretty packed right now, virtually no waiting. As for staying power, no idea. As I said, it's pretty much exactly the same as ME3 MP. Total copy-paste. Plus there are serious balance problems right now. Like for instance - in ME3 MP you wanted to play because it was fun but also because you wanted to get more money, buy more pack and get more weapons which were very diverse, unique and interesting.

Guns in MEA MP feel all the same. Also they all gimped as fuck. As if Bioware pre-emptively nerfed everything to the ground. You have to stand in front of a mob and empty a full clip into his forehead to kill him - on Bronze. On Gold you barely tickle them. So right now it's the punching meta since melee escaped the nerf and it's the only relatively fast way to kill the baddies before they swarm you. Hordes of adepts and vanguards zooming around the arena punching mobs to death. It's fucking ridiculous, then again ME3 MP right after the launch was a mess too so we'll see.

Thanks. I actually wrote about things regarding this before game was released and this was my #1 concern. If they make MP so grindy (to build incentive to purchase crap with those BW points, are credit, whatever) that player base just doesn't feel it's worth any more. It appears they took their chances with that approach. Side effects can be hilarious indeed. Guns, who uses guns, they are fucking useless, I just carry one because marketing told me to do so. Now let's just punch our enemies to death!

Level 1 stuff wasn't that effective in ME3 MP either but some of the decent, even good guns were common and fast to upgrade, for example Mantis X was like Widow I IIRC. Katana was decent starter shotgun for biotic player and good silver tier weapon if you wanted real fast cooldowns for certain characters.

Well, better see where this is going.

 

[Drax]

So is it cracked already?

 

[Echo Mirage]

So is it cracked already?

I doubt there will be any real cracks before the game is patched.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

How is the multiplayer going? Are there players and do you think it has staying power?

MP is pretty packed right now, virtually no waiting. As for staying power, no idea. As I said, it's pretty much exactly the same as ME3 MP. Total copy-paste. Plus there are serious balance problems right now. Like for instance - in ME3 MP you wanted to play because it was fun but also because you wanted to get more money, buy more pack and get more weapons which were very diverse, unique and interesting.

Guns in MEA MP feel all the same - they're all equally gimped as fuck. As if Bioware pre-emptively nerfed everything to the ground. You have to stand in front of a mob and empty a full clip into his forehead to kill him - on Bronze. On Gold you barely tickle them. So right now it's the punching meta since melee escaped the nerf and it's the only relatively fast way to kill the baddies before they swarm you. Hordes of adepts and vanguards zooming around the arena punching mobs to death. It's fucking ridiculous, then again ME3 MP right after the launch was a mess too so we'll see.

Is the multiplayer P2P like For Honor?

 

[ColonelTeacup]

So is it cracked already?

I doubt there will be any real cracks before the game is patched.

Doesn't it have Denuvo? I doubt there's enough interest to warrant a crack anytime soon. Only popular games normally get cracks for Denuvo games and Andromeda is only popular in the sense that a tire fire on your neighbors lawn is popular. Interesting to watch sure, but you dont want to be the guy who owns that property.

 

[Juggie]

So there's lag / synchronisation issues. Netcode might be bugged what comes to creating games. Great.

How grindy it's exactly in comparison to ME3 MP? What comes to cooperation, well that happens in pugs. Is soloing missions still possible? One thing I liked was developing from being carried to being a carrier. That said, my reflexes are of course even worse than few years ago, so team aspect is kinda important.

Warframe, I tried it after I read that it's similar to ME MP, but for me it lost it's charm pretty fast. After few levels it was basically optimization, grindy like hell, I recall someone who had like 30 Loki helmets... Way worse drop rate for useful things than ME3 MP. Some cool concepts and some effort to make it real in mission design, which however fell short because they weren't developed but just thrown in the game. I could go on with the list but to make it short, I'm not autistic enough. Not my cup of tea.

If ME3 MP was your thing I guess you'll like this one as well. As has been said already it's very similar.

When it comes to grind it's about the same. You get up to 10k credits for a bronze mission while in ME3 you would get about 17k. The missions are slightly shorter I think. There are only 6 + 1 waves in MEA compared to 10 + 1 in ME3, but they take a bit longer in MEA. Crates and their prices are identical to ME3 from what I remember.

Enemies are quite bloated but also more mobile then the ones from ME3. Melee is pretty powerful, but equipping a decent sniper rifle allows you to carry pugs all day long. No idea about soloing, never saw a point in doing that. Even if the team is usually just bunch of vanguards charging into your crosshair they occasionally revive you when you get killed during an extended lag.

Personally while I briefly enjoyed ME3 MP with my mate it was hardly interesting enough to keep me playing for more than about 2 weeks. I played MEA MP since the trial release and I already lost interest. I gave up on singleplayer (for now) even earlier though. While I haven't finished it I pretty much fully agree with everything cvv wrote.

As for Warframe, I can't stand it anymore because of the insane grind/repetition factor. I used to play it over a few periods during the years and it definitely seemed more sophisticated than ME3 MP, which to me felt like an afterthought.