Bioware General (Mass Effect/Dragon Age/Other)

[Riptide]

Did anyone turn on closed captioning?
At the scene of the dead/assassinated Krogan the voice over the comms says "Roekaar" but FemRyder says "Rockar". Different pronunciations implying learning new languages?


Also did anyone notice you somehow have what looks likea Prothean Particle Rifle at 4:06 - 4:07?

I was more impressed that at that shot they showed Ryder WEARING SHEPARD'S FUCKING ARMOR FROM ME3.

Betcha it's a preorder bonus.

[Alienmorph]

Nope. Betcha is a Collector's Edition exclusive bonus.

[Mazder]

No, I mean there's no visible recoil or a really meaty muzzle flash that separates it from the rest.

Sure, it wasn't that good, but the way it handled made it one of my favorites in the multiplayer.

True.
Still I hope it gets a bit meatier or we get some meatier guns.

Christ, that combat is somehow worse than I thought it would be. I don't think I've seen gunplay so flaccid since Rogue Warrior and the movement just reminds me of F2P Korean MMOs, and I guess someone on the design team played Halo 5 for their jetpack inspiration? Maybe the abilities will be able to carry the combat gameplay but the fact that Disruptor and Incendiary ammo are just a consumable is concerning to me, an awful lot of the combat and exploration mechanics remind me of the little I played of Inquisition and surprisingly Dead Space 3. The UI and enemy AI seem like they're placeholders to me but I'm assuming they'll change prior to release, at least I hope so.

Aside from that, the actual premise seems a lot more appealing than I thought previously and unless I misunderstood, it seems like there's multiple routes for most objectives which could be interesting. I was also hoping that they'd learned from DA:I and took some more time with character animations and facial expressions but the first two minutes of that demo are looking pretty off in places, that interrupt especially. Personally I'm going to hope it ends up being a repeat of ME1 with usable combat but ultimately a good story, I'm still going to be banking on Bioware not completely blowing it with the multiplayer. It was one of ME3's few saving graces in my eyes, and in the end as long as that's not the case, I'll be happy.

► Show Spoiler

That hammer looks brettygud10/10 I gotta admit, and where in the actual fuck are the Quarians at

I am on the other end of the spectrum, I feel the freedom of movement is going to be a lot better in terms of the combat, there will be less of the "OMG I AM STUCK ON THEIR STUPID GEOMETRY IN A TIGHT CORRIDOR WITH TWO FUCK-FACE-STUPID AI TEAMMATES DICKING AROUND DOING FUCK ALL WHILE I GET SHOT!" rage from the previous series because the game either had shit movement (ME1) or couldn't process it's own cover system effectively (ME2) or just couldn't process the game properly at all with bullshit instakill moves.(ME3)

The ammo types being a consumable I can understand a bit more as it's basically method of resource allocation.
It's kinda like a Star Trek vibe sorta. Can't go into all situations tooled up to the nines, otherwise there is no drama. Plus another Galaxy, resources are scarce, can't just be a power option. PLus it makes it more dramatic as it's probably gonna be like in ME3 MP where you have a certain amount to get you through so you gotta use it on the big bosses and you can refill at a base or the not-Mako, or something.

I was more impressed that at that shot they showed Ryder WEARING SHEPARD'S FUCKING ARMOR FROM ME3.

Betcha it's a preorder bonus.

Well, to be fair, Shepard's armour is just N7 armour, which we know our dad has, and we get at some point, it doesn't say if he wears that version all the time. Maybe he gets it issued right before the mission and never puts it on?

Nope. Betcha is a Collector's Edition exclusive bonus.

But yeah that's more likely...except the pre-order and collector's edition stuff is already on the origin site/market. So unless they add it soon it might not be.

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Mazder]

Can I just say I am also glad they did away (for now) with BOOB PLATE turian female armour!

[TheodoricFriede]

Wonder when everything in the game will leak.

[Alienmorph]

I'm gonna guess a few more months. With the game being pushed further down next year, at the very least we won't ear more about it until after the holidays.

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

She seems like our new Aria.

[TheodoricFriede]

I'm gonna guess a few more months. With the game being pushed further down next year, at the very least we won't ear more about it until after the holidays.

So the delay was finally confirmed?

[Mazder]

I'm gonna guess a few more months. With the game being pushed further down next year, at the very least we won't ear more about it until after the holidays.

So the delay was finally confirmed?

System requirements aren't even out yet so I guess so.

[Someone With Mass]

Oh my god, that UI looks so cluttered. I know it's supposed to be seen, but it stands out more than anything else for me.

[SciFlyBoy]

@SWM I'm sure it will get cleaned up a little.

Seems to be a lot of infighting between all the Milky Way species. You figured in a new galaxy it would be all of us vs. whatever mysteries/species we find.

[Calinstel]

[quote="Mazder"
The ammo types being a consumable I can understand a bit more as it's basically method of resource allocation.
It's kinda like a Star Trek vibe sorta. Can't go into all situations tooled up to the nines, otherwise there is no drama. Plus another Galaxy, resources are scarce, can't just be a power option. PLus it makes it more dramatic as it's probably gonna be like in ME3 MP where you have a certain amount to get you through so you gotta use it on the big bosses and you can refill at a base or the not-Mako, or something.
[/quote]

Sorry, on this I, in my opinion, is just incomprehensible. Ammo types in ME1 were weapons mods (as they should be). In ME2 and 3 they were moronically turned into 'powers'. Either way, there was no limit on their use once they were enabled/found/activated. It makes no sense to me that now they are limited in scope. If the game relies on screwing with established lore/functionality to make the game 'good' then the programmers have utterly failed.

Expectations of ME:A declining more and more for myself.

P.S. Though I quoted your post, my comments are just how I feel and not designed to attack your opinion Mazder.

[Mazder]

Sorry, on this I, in my opinion, is just incomprehensible. Ammo types in ME1 were weapons mods (as they should be). In ME2 and 3 they were moronically turned into 'powers'. Either way, there was no limit on their use once they were enabled/found/activated. It makes no sense to me that now they are limited in scope. If the game relies on screwing with established lore/functionality to make the game 'good' then the programmers have utterly failed.

Expectations of ME:A declining more and more for myself.

P.S. Though I quoted your post, my comments are just how I feel and not designed to attack your opinion Mazder.

Oh I know, and just because I may disagree with your claims and refute them do not imply I feel your comments were an attack, or even a dissuasion of my opinions.

It's because the gameplay has changed.
In ME3MP the ammo types were used in one mission, as in "you are allocated a certain amount by the N7 Corps, this is what you have to use." That same idea is taken into this new Galaxy where they're given and have less resources, it absolutely fits the lore of it's surroundings. In ME1 and 2 we're working in essentially a limitless environment where the combat mechanics were still being worked on and tweaked.
If we stick to ME1 values we have potentially a broken system where you can just hold down the attack key and guarantee a kill due to unlimited ammo, as it was with ME1's system.

Take how combat has progressed. Instead of doing the easy thing of just adding on a massive health pool like other games would, ME gives you a rock, paper, scissors method of dealing with an advantage. These advantages aren't the be all and end all oft he difficulty scale, but they assist in the difficulty. Now, yeah, you could be given all your ammo types as an ability and still have a slight difficulty scale, it'd be fairly weaksauce as it was in ME2, but it'd be present.
But this wouldn't give the player any extra agency. Why bother going to another class if I can hose everything down with my guns because I have access to anything that can take it down? I have bullets for everything so there is no need to be anything else or even think about my environment or opponent. But now they're a scarcity I have to think "Do I spend it on getting through this lot here who might have shields, or armour, or do I spend it on those Mechs over there, which I know will have shields and will be affected by these rounds more?"

It adds an element of danger to the combat that is genuinely missing from ME gameplay. Because right now it has just been "more armour, more shields, out more on so they'll be harder to fight!"

Instead of thinking how they can stack the enemies up all the more they instead limit the player to "not a god".

[Someone With Mass]

Instead of thinking how they can stack the enemies up all the more they instead limit the player to "not a god".

Which I'd say is negated by letting the player use all of their powers at once if they choose to.

By the way, considering that it's the computer inside the weapon that alters the projectile's properties, it's just silly that it'd run out of it all of the sudden. That would imply that it's out of ammo completely.

The way it was done in ME3's multiplayer was simply a limiting factor due to gameplay balance.

[Riptide]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsA_GnGp9Y

So it looks like the Nexus is only half built, and we have to complete it once we get to Andromeda?

Weird.

[Someone With Mass]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsA_GnGp9Y

So it looks like the Nexus is only half built, and we have to complete it once we get to Andromeda?

Weird.

Okay. Why?

Also, the whole cultural section of the Nexus designed to teach other aliens about the history of the Milky Way only makes the timeline even more asinine, since I'd say that the most important thing you could teach another alien race about your galaxy is the galactic war that started shortly after you left and was conducted by an ancient machine race that had absorbed information about your civilizations and culture for thousands of years.

[Riptide]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsA_GnGp9Y

So it looks like the Nexus is only half built, and we have to complete it once we get to Andromeda?

Weird.

Okay. Why?

Also, the whole cultural section of the Nexus designed to teach other aliens about the history of the Milky Way only makes the timeline even more asinine, since I'd say that the most important thing you could teach another alien race about your galaxy is the galactic war that started shortly after you left and was conducted by an ancient machine race that had absorbed information about your civilizations and culture for thousands of years.

"Hey guys, you better not make AI. They're bad and will turn you into bugs and/or milkshakes. But only sometimes. Or all the time. Honestly that's never been made very clear."

[Mazder]

Which I'd say is negated by letting the player use all of their powers at once if they choose to.

By the way, considering that it's the computer inside the weapon that alters the projectile's properties, it's just silly that it'd run out of it all of the sudden. That would imply that it's out of ammo completely.

The way it was done in ME3's multiplayer was simply a limiting factor due to gameplay balance.

How about the modules used to transform the ammo type?
Yeah the computer inside may change it but it has to use something to make it happen, you can't alter something with nothing.

And this is how it is being used here, it's making the gameplay more interesting, more mindful of where you are rather than "activate this power, then this one, then done."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZsA_GnGp9Y

So it looks like the Nexus is only half built, and we have to complete it once we get to Andromeda?

Weird.

Okay. Why?

Also, the whole cultural section of the Nexus designed to teach other aliens about the history of the Milky Way only makes the timeline even more asinine, since I'd say that the most important thing you could teach another alien race about your galaxy is the galactic war that started shortly after you left and was conducted by an ancient machine race that had absorbed information about your civilizations and culture for thousands of years.

Wouldn't this highlighted part mean they not know about it?
Didn't it take the council all of ME2 to concede it was a maybe at best?
And in this they leave before ME2. Or at the very least before that decision is made.

[SciFlyBoy]

"Bioware also reveals that not all races will be making a comeback in "Mass Effect: Andromeda" and will not be featured in the upcoming game titles of the saga." Looks like no Quarians, period. As quoted by GameNGuide

http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/7922 ... mber-1.htm

And then this number happened.

"We've designed the IP in such a way that they can all show up," Walters said. "For hopefully obvious reasons, they're not all going to show up in the first game."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/11/25/ ... al-trilogy

[Mazder]

"Bioware also reveals that not all races will be making a comeback in "Mass Effect: Andromeda" and will not be featured in the upcoming game titles of the saga." Looks like no Quarians, period. As quoted by GameNGuide

http://www.gamenguide.com/articles/7922 ... mber-1.htm

And then this number happened.

"We've designed the IP in such a way that they can all show up," Walters said. "For hopefully obvious reasons, they're not all going to show up in the first game."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/11/25/ ... al-trilogy

Odd, because their source cited in their link says otherwise...

"Bioware also claim that while not all the known races will be showing up in the first game of this new saga, that is going to happen over the course of future chapters in the game series" - HNGN
Which'd imply they are coming later.

Yay so no real confirmation.

And even then this is from a relatively lesser known place, let's wait for corroboration if it's true either way.

And even then you added another dissuasion.
More rumors.

[TTTX]

Wouldn't this highlighted part mean they not know about it?
Didn't it take the council all of ME2 to concede it was a maybe at best?
And in this they leave before ME2. Or at the very least before that decision is made.

The council knew all along about the Reapers, they just kept it a secret from the public (Citadel DLC confirmed that).

[Mazder]

Wouldn't this highlighted part mean they not know about it?
Didn't it take the council all of ME2 to concede it was a maybe at best?
And in this they leave before ME2. Or at the very least before that decision is made.

The council knew all along about the Reapers, they just kept it a secret from the public (Citadel DLC confirmed that).

Again, that just proves my point.
Public didn't know, so this publicly owned company would not know.

[Someone With Mass]

Which I'd say is negated by letting the player use all of their powers at once if they choose to.

By the way, considering that it's the computer inside the weapon that alters the projectile's properties, it's just silly that it'd run out of it all of the sudden. That would imply that it's out of ammo completely.

The way it was done in ME3's multiplayer was simply a limiting factor due to gameplay balance.

How about the modules used to transform the ammo type?
Yeah the computer inside may change it but it has to use something to make it happen, you can't alter something with nothing.

And this is how it is being used here, it's making the gameplay more interesting, more mindful of where you are rather than "activate this power, then this one, then done."

---

Wouldn't this highlighted part mean they not know about it?
Didn't it take the council all of ME2 to concede it was a maybe at best?
And in this they leave before ME2. Or at the very least before that decision is made.

Well, cryo rounds are created via cooling lasers, while AP and incendiary rounds are created by using tungsten blocks and a thermite paste. If these are ammo blocks (save for cryo rounds that seem to be a module more than anything), then you could in theory fire thousands of these rounds just like regular ammo. Making it limited like it's done on Andromeda is taking so many steps backwards. I also only saw a bunch of power combos in that video and considering that you'll have the ability to switch powers freely, I can't see a reason why you'd limit the weapons, since you're most likely going to set off combos left and right either way.

If they had left after ME3's events, not only would the purpose of the initiative make way more sense (more purpose and less shits and giggles), but their databases would be more up to date, since a lot of the culture during ME2 most likely don't exist after ME3.

[Someone With Mass]

"We've designed the IP in such a way that they can all show up," Walters said. "For hopefully obvious reasons, they're not all going to show up in the first game."

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/11/25/ ... al-trilogy

So...uh, why are you not including the space nomads on your nomadic journey? Because I distinctively remember some of them talking about simply wanting to travel the stars and explore. Not to mention that they were doing the whole space faring thing while the human race was still burning witches.

[TTTX]

If they had left after ME3's events, not only would the purpose of the initiative make way more sense (more purpose and less shits and giggles), but their databases would be more up to date, since a lot of the culture during ME2 most likely don't exist after ME3.

true, but then BW would have to choose a cannon ME3 ending and well that's not going to happen yet anyway.

[Vol]

So that was cool. Watched the video late last night, right before I turned in. I'm not wild about vertical movement in combat, because it's going to necessarily limit tactical depth, and on high difficulties, it seems like you'd either get immediately plastered or have some sort of immunity, and eh. The rest of the combat looked fine though. I really want to know how deep it will get, because as the odd bird I am, I preferred ME1's combat over all the others. Omnigel and all.

That entire sequence with the lady Ryder and the Far Cry 3 lady ripoff was cringy. Aria, Fist, Harkin, that bitch in Thane's recruitment mission, they didn't make me roll my eyes when I met them. Faces need work too, but it's not a big deal if the writing's tight. Which I pray to God it will be, and that the open racist on the project isn't influencing anything creative.

So I'm still tentatively hopeful, like I've been all along. Expect pretty mediocrity, but hope for the best. If nothing else, we'll probably have some fun MP games for a few weeks.

[Alienmorph]

A thing I will give them credit for. Despite the change of engine it all looks and feels consistent with previous games. I'm no expert, but I would imagine is not so easy peasy making a game with Frostbyte that looks like is running on a very polished UnEngine instead.

[Dragaros]

[["Nexus leadership:

Nakmor Kesh, is a female Krogan and part of the core team of station engineers who built the Nexus. Her contributions during the mission include station upkeep and ensuring all facilities remain in working order.

Foster Addison oversees all colonization logistics for the Andromeda Initiative, making sure all settlements are up and running and colonists have a place to live.

Sloane Kelley is an Alliance-trained solider, and responsible for all security initiatives aboard the Nexus upon arrival in Andromeda."]]

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[TheodoricFriede]

Hey, female krogan.

Looks pretty much exactly like i said one would look.

[Alienmorph]

It's a look that makes sense. We knew already they had almost the exact body-type as the males, so the main difference was gonna be the head. And they went for the classic "females are less "flashy" than the males, because they don't have to show off". I'm okay with that.

[Dragaros]

"HOW MASS EFFECT 3'S ENDING INFLUENCED ANDROMEDA"

"Mass Effect: Andromeda's facial animations are still being polished"

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

[TTTX]

well look like the aliens we saw enter some sort of door ways in N7 day trailer.

[FrozenShadow]

I'm gonna guess a few more months. With the game being pushed further down next year, at the very least we won't ear more about it until after the holidays.

So the delay was finally confirmed?

I really don't mind. As this means they won't repeat the same mistake they did with ME3. Release the game way too early, resulting to messed up game.
Maybe ME3 taught them all something. I even wonder if EA might have learned something from it, though I doubt.

Also, now that I mentioned ME3, I know this is definitely late, but still got to say it.

I was watching some old ME3 vids yesterday, when I run into extended cut endings. And dayum they were huge improvement to originals, especially now that I watched them for the first time.

But the funniest and somehow disappointing one was this, sort of secret, "go to hell, star child" ending. As it resulted the cycle continuing and we see Liara's message for next cycle at the end.

Yeah, I was surprised of that as I didn't even know about the existence of this one.

[TheodoricFriede]

Yeah, I was surprised of that as I didn't even know about the existence of this one.

That one was such trash.

It literally only existed as a fuck you to the people that didn't like their precious Red, Green, Blue.

[Riptide]

Makes you figure though, the alien woman we see in the stargazer ending for Refuse is probably an asari. I mean, part of the Andromeda Charter is to return to the Milky Way. So in Refuse, they return, find the Crucible, and probably blow the thing while the Reapers are waiting in dark space.

Like, shit.

[Alienmorph]

Lol, what if in the sequels we return to the Milky Way and find out that Refuse IS the canonical outcome and we have to do the whole Crucible shtick all over again? Wouldn't THAT be fun?

Of course they wouldn't do that, but well, one dick move more or one dick move less...

[Someone With Mass]

It really didn't help that they rewrote a lot of crap at the last second because of that script leak and that they needed to have a "twist". Maybe it's because I've become so goddamn jaded, but a twist for me these days translates to "I can't come up with a good, sensible and believable way to wrap everything up in time and hope to god that this will cover my ass". So yeah, I can take a delay. Shit, if it helps, I can wait another year.

To quote Shigeru Miyamoto: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

[TheodoricFriede]

To quote Shigeru Miyamoto: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."

Miyamoto also said "No one cared about the story in Paper Mario" so...

Sometimes shit just needs to get done.

[Dragaros]

It really didn't help that they rewrote a lot of crap at the last second because of that script leak and that they needed to have a "twist". Maybe it's because I've become so goddamn jaded, but a twist for me these days translates to "I can't come up with a good, sensible and believable way to wrap everything up in time and hope to god that this will cover my ass". So yeah, I can take a delay. Shit, if it helps, I can wait another year.

What was the ending in the script leak again?

I remember something about Shep having a chat with something called "The Guardian" and Javik sacrificing himself to power the Crucible, but that's it.

Seems to be a lot of infighting between all the Milky Way species. You figured in a new galaxy it would be all of us vs. whatever mysteries/species we find.

I'm seeing a lot of "Outcasts" and "Anarchists", as well as other criminal/pirate/scavenger activity. Either some serious shit goes down right off the bat, or the Andromeda Initiative had a truly terrible vetting process for selecting who got to go.

Maybe the Initiative are abusing their power causing some to break away in a separatist or insurrectionist movements, or political/economic differences lead to other factions being created as tensions rose, or some event--like an ark crashing or a Kett invasion--has some people in "its every man for himself!" mode.

[Someone With Mass]

What was the ending in the script leak again?

I remember something about Shep having a chat with something called "The Guardian" and Javik sacrificing himself to power the Crucible, but that's it.

I can't find the script on my computer, nor do I want to go through hundreds of pages of rough code and dialogues, but I'm fairly certain that Javik was the original Catalyst and that his decision would depend on your conversations with him. To lessen his "all or nothing" attitude or convince him that sacrifices are inevitable in these kind of situations.

Either way, BioWare allegedly changed it because it was leaked.