An open letter to Bioware

[Mcface]

Gears of war like gameplay.
GoW has a ton of haters, but the gameplay is solid and fluent. theres a lot of things in mass effect 2 i just cant do. Only use staged, fixed cover, no blind fire, no supression, etc.

In GoW you charge forward, dive headfirst into some cover, and stick your gun over the wall and start shooting.

 

[Mcface]

How to fix ME2: An open how to fix it guide
1: Make it exactly like ME1
2: Make inventory easier to clean up (not that it was hard already you lazy fucks)
3: Make the Mako handle a bit better
4: DONE

I really hope this is the model that they followed for ME3. ME2 was just an "RPG third person shooter" without any RPG.

(Editors note: please do not consider Conviction to be anywhere near as good as the previous entries in the series)

(EN2: That lazy fucks thing is a joke btw don't anyone get mad)

(EN3: The only good thing about ME2 was the story, other than that it was just Gears of War with the ability to fly a ship around.)

ME1 gameplay is shit. There, I said it.
I love the game, but its not good design.

Stack 10 bad guys in room, enter room, fight all 10 badguys.

and I didnt like ME2s inventory UNTIL i thought about it.
You are commander Shepard. The most badass badass to ever exist ever. Why would he be opening every trash can he sees looking for gear? HES COMMANDER SHEPARD. He should be able to have the best shit at a snap of the finger. Leave it the way it is, minor upgrades in shops, the odd new weapon here and there. It just fits the story and character better.

 

[Jumplion]

snip of epic proportions

I think I got the gist of it now, and in a sense I suppose he's (the original poster) right, though one could easily claim that he is over-thinking it.

From what I've read of other people's opinions, people like to compare the Mass Effect trilogy and it's change of tone to the original Star Wars films in that the second one seems to be the darkest one and the third one brings the tone a bit lighter but still serious. Overall, I'm still enjoying Mass Effect 2, but I agree that it does feel more restrictive with it's lack of exploration and stuff. Say what you will about the Mako and resource collecting, it did give you a sense of discovering new worlds.

 

[yundex]

How to fix ME2: An open how to fix it guide
1: Make it exactly like ME1
2: Make inventory easier to clean up (not that it was hard already you lazy fucks)
3: Make the Mako handle a bit better
4: DONE

(Editors note: please do not consider Conviction to be anywhere near as good as the previous entries in the series)

(EN2: That lazy fucks thing is a joke btw don't anyone get mad)

(EN3: The only good thing about ME2 was the story, other than that it was just Gears of War with the ability to fly a ship around.)

Couldn't agree with you more, though the OP does make some good points. I thought one was vastly superior to two, and that most of the changes they made were for the worse. ME2 was the shortest 2-disc game I've ever played.

How long did it take you to complete (and why did you have two discs)?

OT: It'd be better putting this on the BioWare forums since that's where they read stuff, although your calls for gore and dismemberment will go unheard. It's not a matter of controversy, it's a matter of age rating.

The game is rated M already, what do you mean about the "matter of age rating"?

Isn't an M like 17+?

It's a 15 (and the first is a 12) over here. Gorey dismemberment is the difference between a 15 and an 18, and 18 = smaller audience.

Interesting, that's why i'm glad the law isn't involved when it comes to game ratings in the US.....yet /sigh

 

[Blue_vision]

I'd say that the cries for gore seem a bit childish, and things that wouldn't add to the game at all.

Other than that, I agree.

The platforming idea is a good one, though I think if it is included it should be class specific. With a route for biotic, tech and combat based classes. This would give classes like the sentinal and vanguard more of a choice when goin though a level.

For example adepts may be able to move large objects to clear a path, while an engineer could repair a broken door and a soldier could have more of an eye for more tactical routes like say an air vent. (remeber you will be with your group so you can't have any extreme platforming options)

I think it'd be better to not have it class-specific. There's nothing I'd hate more than to be shoehorned into a specific part of a level because of the class I choose. Instead, give certain classes perks that'll let them complete a certain section more easily (but don't make it impossible for everyone else.) Giving players more options like that could make the game come much more alive, imo.

But yes, that kind of idea I'd like.

 

[Irridium]

snip of epic proportions

I think I got the gist of it now, and in a sense I suppose he's (the original poster) right, though one could easily claim that he is over-thinking it.

From what I've read of other people's opinions, people like to compare the Mass Effect trilogy and it's change of tone to the original Star Wars films in that the second one seems to be the darkest one and the third one brings the tone a bit lighter but still serious. Overall, I'm still enjoying Mass Effect 2, but I agree that it does feel more restrictive with it's lack of exploration and stuff. Say what you will about the Mako and resource collecting, it did give you a sense of discovering new worlds.

I didn't even mind the barren worlds so much. It was the stupidly steep cliffs that you had to drive up with a horribly physic'd(is that even a word?) Mako.

And ME2 didn't really feel dark to me. Just feels like they tried to coast on the Rule Of Cool [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool]. Which while that works for lots of things, it just seems out of place in Mass Effect.

 

[Jumplion]

snip of epic proportions

I think I got the gist of it now, and in a sense I suppose he's (the original poster) right, though one could easily claim that he is over-thinking it.

From what I've read of other people's opinions, people like to compare the Mass Effect trilogy and it's change of tone to the original Star Wars films in that the second one seems to be the darkest one and the third one brings the tone a bit lighter but still serious. Overall, I'm still enjoying Mass Effect 2, but I agree that it does feel more restrictive with it's lack of exploration and stuff. Say what you will about the Mako and resource collecting, it did give you a sense of discovering new worlds.

I didn't even mind the barren worlds so much. It was the stupidly steep cliffs that you had to drive up with a horribly physic'd(is that even a word?) Mako.

And ME2 didn't really feel dark to me. Just feels like they tried to coast on the Rule Of Cool [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool]. Which while that works for lots of things, it just seems out of place in Mass Effect.

Yes, driving the Mako was like riding a jackrabbit on a trampoline trying to get to a Mexican jumping bean.

We'll see how Bioware does with Mass Effect 3. I'm by no means a Bioware fanboy, I haven't had enough experience with their games to really become one, but it'll be interesting to see what they do with Mass Effect 3.

 

[Shock and Awe]

I think putting in platforming in a game like mass effect would be an awful idea to be honest, it just would not fit without a total overhaul of mechanics. I also think a better example of giving mission variety would be the Noveria level in ME1, where you can use diplomacy, trickery, or lots of bullets.

 

[The Wykydtron]

How to fix ME2: An open how to fix it guide
1: Make it exactly like ME1
2: Make inventory easier to clean up (not that it was hard already you lazy fucks)
3: Make the Mako handle a bit better
4: DONE

I really hope this is the model that they followed for ME3. ME2 was just an "RPG third person shooter" without any RPG.

(Editors note: please do not consider Conviction to be anywhere near as good as the previous entries in the series)

(EN2: That lazy fucks thing is a joke btw don't anyone get mad)

(EN3: The only good thing about ME2 was the story, other than that it was just Gears of War with the ability to fly a ship around.)

This. Due to ME2 being so much TPS I am not getting 3, just cant enyoy it,shame had potential too.

Firewalker sucked. Even the people who loved ME2 admit that. Look at the forums and ask about firewalker, no one liked it.

OBJECTION!

I liked the Firewalker

 

[sumanoskae]

Wow, there are actually a lot of good ideas in there. I completely agree with you on adding more of a stealth element for the infiltrator class. The cloak while good in theory, didn't seem to be that useful in practice. Actually I think everything mentioned in the infiltrator paragraph at the end of your post is right on target.

Also agree with your thoughts on melee kills (yes!) and space battles (double yes!).

You should think about posting this on the Bioware forums if you haven't already.

I'm planing to. Problem is, I'm not quite sure where to post it, as I'm unfamiliar with what's considered proper conduct on Biowares website.

I also thought about just sending it to them, but they strictly state that they're not in the business of of taking requests(Which I defiantly understand).

 

[sumanoskae]

I agree with some of these, but, in no particular order:

Mass Effect is a strictly single player game, which means you don't have to worry as much about balancing issues.

So very, very wrong.
It is a singleplayer game where you have companions who also use the available classes (or uniques of their own in most cases) alongside who you will be fighting and who you will be comparing yourself to because none of the enemies have a power level of over 9000.
They obviously didn't worry about balancing much for Dragon Age, and that game was so hilariously unbalanced between classes it just wasn't fun (or playable in late game) if you were not a mage or two-handed weapon user. Don't turn ME into a badly designed RPG like DA.

On weapon variety, here's my idea:

During your journey you get weapons a little more often as in ME2, which was a bit overly light on them. Then, you can buy licenses at vendors ME1-style so you can choose a variant customized with parts from those companies and a unique look, giving large selection with an easy menu (Weapons > Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, etc.> Assault Rifle A, +20% reload speed, -8% accuracy, AR B, +5% damage, +12% recoil, etc., at most 6-8 variants per weapon in addition to vanilla guns).

Of course, making the entire game environment climbable just so one of the six classes can use that feature doesn't seem like a feasible investment.

I do like the idea of biotic powers as a main weapon instead of their current supporting role. It might actually make me impressed with the next sexy-female-biotic-with-romance-subplot's powers.

30x yes on the visceral feedback.

Charm / Intimidate does need reworking.

Overall, agree with some things, disagree with others. Happy New Year, by the way.

It is true that platforming would be difficult and perhaps underused.

Maybe just some alternative paths above the established(Similar to Thanes Loyalty Mission), Engineers could hack them as well, but Infiltrators would have the advantage. You could even send certain members of your squad towards different parts of a mission. That would also be helpful to make every member of the team useful, and do away with the "Elite Specialists" who spend all their time presumably admiring the Normandy's paint job

 

[Bellvedere]

I disagree with most of the things you've said there but then whatever changes they do or don't make is going to make people unhappy. So long as it still feels like playing Mass Effect and they don't mess up the ending I'll be happy.

But since we're on the topic of wishlists I would like a return of the weapons and armour upgrades, remove the resource scanning, make Kelly take better care off my fish, oh and it would be awesome if the ending of ME3 was totally dependent on an obscure side quest from ME1 to piss of all the people who complain about the choices not making a big enough difference. I would love it if you couldn't get a good ending if in ME1 you didn't collect all the Turian Insignias or if you killed the monkey things in the bomb mission.

 

[Jfswift]

demonic teddy bear kills *grin*

Honestly, bioware if you're out there. I'd really like to see more character to character conversations / interactions. That's it really. I think the game is fine the way it is.

 

[tikalal]

I would like the menu style (colour scheme etc) to go back to ME1. The abolishment of inventory was a bit of an overreaction. Is Bioware incapable of designing a good inventory?

I would also like to see the same level of detail in the landing/takeoff sequences as ME1, as the reduction of them in ME2 made the worlds feel less connected to the universe and more standalone shooting galleries.

 

[sumanoskae]

How to fix ME2: An open how to fix it guide
1: Make it exactly like ME1
2: Make inventory easier to clean up (not that it was hard already you lazy fucks)
3: Make the Mako handle a bit better
4: DONE

I really hope this is the model that they followed for ME3. ME2 was just an "RPG third person shooter" without any RPG.

(Editors note: please do not consider Conviction to be anywhere near as good as the previous entries in the series)

(EN2: That lazy fucks thing is a joke btw don't anyone get mad)

(EN3: The only good thing about ME2 was the story, other than that it was just Gears of War with the ability to fly a ship around.)

I didn't post conviction as an option because I liked it, I posted it because it's the kind of psychotic power fantasy that Mass Effect tries to do with Sheppard.

I just think that it's particular flavor of stealth would fit Mass Effects heroic tone. Not necessarily because I even like the heroic tone(Sheppard's "Marty Sue" aspects annoy me to no end), but because I can't expect the Devs to change their artistic vision of the game.

If they don't have their hearts in it, neither can we

 

[RatRace123]

I hadn't actually given much thought to what I'd like changed for ME3, I guess now's as good a time as any.

First off I'd say have the pacing of the story be more open ended like it was in the original the fact that ME2 locked you into the story at certain points (Horizon, the collector ship) made it feel constricted, I understand there's a need for urgency but it could've been handled better.

Also I felt that having some party members be unavailable for recruitment until after Horizon was a bit messy. Especially because fan favorites like Legion Tali and Thane were acquired so late and they were originally planned to be available much earlier.

I'd say have every recruitment mission be open to players after they complete the prologue mission(s) and let the players decide who to get first. Then after, say 4 people are recruited you give them the option to go to a story planet like Horizon. They beat it, they continue gathering allies.

Bring back the classic Bioware style. Mass Effect 2's story missions were mostly just a bunch of shooting gallery levels, I missed the larger mission structure that's found in literally every other Bioware game.
No level in Mass Effect 2 (save for the suicide mission) was as awesome as Virmire was in Mass Effect 1.

Make party members die regardless of our efforts, or make it harder to save them. The risk in Mass Effect 2's suicide mission was actually next to nothing once you upgraded everything and knew who to pick for what, it made repeated playthroughs a breeze.
When it takes more effort and tactical thinking to get everyone killed than it does to keep them all alive, then you have some problems. Plus the reason Virmire is remembered as one of my all time favorite missions/quests/levels in any game ever was because of that heart breaking choice, and the encounter with Saren after it.

Which leads to this: Bring back another proper antagonist, Saren is one of my favorite game villains because you got the sense that this guy was everywhere. He was an enemy you could go up against face to face. He's nowhere near as tough or threatening as a Reaper, but because he can face you on a personal level and he served as either your polar opposite or a glimpse into your future it makes him a much more effective villain. Sovereign was pulling the strings but it's Saren who fought you every step of the way.

Bring back choices that mean something, sparing or killing the rachni, saving or wiping out Zhu's hope, saving or killing the council. These choices all had severe consequences and there was about one per story mission, and a lot in the sidequests, I think Mass Effect 2 had maybe 5 of these choices throughout the entire game that really felt really like they had meaning, and one of them was in a DLC. That should be fixed.

More Party member conversations, I recall having at most 5 discussions with party members in ME2. Even Mass Effcet one only had a handful of conversations, though each ME1 party member had more to say than any ME2 one. This probably had more to do with the fact that ME2 had double the amount of party members of ME1, but Dragon Age gave you 10 party members and they all had like 20 different conversation topics each.
Just a chance for Bioware to show off its writing muscle and for us as players to get to know the party members more.
I'd also suggest an approval system like Dragon Age, but I can understand if they want to keep Mass Effect's style seperate.

This one's merely nitpicking but, the character creation system for Male Shepards sucks, I can never make a guy that doesn't look like ass ugly. This has been a problem for both games and I think it has to do with the options for hair and eye types. Not really a huge problem but it bugs me.

More weapon, armor and item choice. Simply put, the vareity is nice. Also, it'd be cool if we could customize our allie's armor in the same way we could Shepard's.

Another nitpicky one, we got loyalty missions as the story progressed, this isn't much of a problem but I think it'd flow better if we got loyalty missions after we talked to our party members and got to know them a bit more so that they'd trust us enough to ask for our help. Again this one kinda stems from the fact that at least 4 of the party members were aquired much later in the story.

That's about it, I guess all my problems with Mass Effect stemmed mostly the story and mission structure. I can deal with gameplay issues but ME2's story and pacing, I felt, weren't as good as ME1.
Wow, I guess I did have a lot of ideas on improvement.

 

[sumanoskae]

I do agree with the OP - having a stealth option or at least something as a third option to "Let's sit down and talk about this" or "Rawr Shepard smash". Melee kills would be nice, but in some ways I suspect that they wouldn't work for a lot of enemies i.e. a thresher maw.

Maybe once they're downed you could finish them in a sequence similar to Lair of the Shadow Brokers final boss.

That would make the kill feel more realistic(I lost count of how many ships I killed by shooting them with my pistol)

 

[sumanoskae]

I agree with some of these, but, in no particular order:

Mass Effect is a strictly single player game, which means you don't have to worry as much about balancing issues.

So very, very wrong.
It is a singleplayer game where you have companions who also use the available classes (or uniques of their own in most cases) alongside who you will be fighting and who you will be comparing yourself to because none of the enemies have a power level of over 9000.
They obviously didn't worry about balancing much for Dragon Age, and that game was so hilariously unbalanced between classes it just wasn't fun (or playable in late game) if you were not a mage or two-handed weapon user. Don't turn ME into a badly designed RPG like DA.

On weapon variety, here's my idea:

During your journey you get weapons a little more often as in ME2, which was a bit overly light on them. Then, you can buy licenses at vendors ME1-style so you can choose a variant customized with parts from those companies and a unique look, giving large selection with an easy menu (Weapons > Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, etc.> Assault Rifle A, +20% reload speed, -8% accuracy, AR B, +5% damage, +12% recoil, etc., at most 6-8 variants per weapon in addition to vanilla guns).

Of course, making the entire game environment climbable just so one of the six classes can use that feature doesn't seem like a feasible investment.

I do like the idea of biotic powers as a main weapon instead of their current supporting role. It might actually make me impressed with the next sexy-female-biotic-with-romance-subplot's powers.

30x yes on the visceral feedback.

Charm / Intimidate does need reworking.

Overall, agree with some things, disagree with others. Happy New Year, by the way.

I like your idea for weapons a lot, do you mind if I post it as a revision under your name and say something like "His/Her idea is better, so go with that one".

I figure maybe I can get a lot of requests in and then post this on the Bioware forums, as this is very helpful in terms of what's actually realistic to expect

 

[sumanoskae]

I hadn't actually given much thought to what I'd like changed for ME3, I guess now's as good a time as any.

First off I'd say have the pacing of the story be more open ended like it was in the original the fact that ME2 locked you into the story at certain points (Horizon, the collector ship) made it feel constricted, I understand there's a need for urgency but it could've been handled better.

Also I felt that having some party members be unavailable for recruitment until after Horizon was a bit messy. Especially because fan favorites like Legion Tali and Thane were acquired so late and they were originally planned to be available much earlier.

I'd say have every recruitment mission be open to players after they complete the prologue mission(s) and let the players decide who to get first. Then after, say 4 people are recruited you give them the option to go to a story planet like Horizon. They beat it, they continue gathering allies.

Bring back the classic Bioware style. Mass Effect 2's story missions were mostly just a bunch of shooting gallery levels, I missed the larger mission structure that's found in literally every other Bioware game.
No level in Mass Effect 2 (save for the suicide mission) was as awesome as Virmire was in Mass Effect 1.

Make party members die regardless of our efforts, or make it harder to save them. The risk in Mass Effect 2's suicide mission was actually next to nothing once you upgraded everything and knew who to pick for what, it made repeated playthroughs a breeze.
When it takes more effort and tactical thinking to get everyone killed than it does to keep them all alive, then you have some problems. Plus the reason Virmire is remembered as one of my all time favorite missions/quests/levels in any game ever was because of that heart breaking choice, and the encounter with Saren after it.

Which leads to this: Bring back another proper antagonist, Saren is one of my favorite game villains because you got the sense that this guy was everywhere. He was an enemy you could go up against face to face. He's nowhere near as tough or threatening as a Reaper, but because he can face you on a personal level and he served as either your polar opposite or a glimpse into your future it makes him a much more effective villain. Sovereign was pulling the strings but it's Saren who fought you every step of the way.

Bring back choices that mean something, sparing or killing the rachni, saving or wiping out Zhu's hope, saving or killing the council. These choices all had severe consequences and there was about one per story mission, and a lot in the sidequests, I think Mass Effect 2 had maybe 5 of these choices through out the entire game that really felt really like they had meaning, and one of them was in a DLC. That should be fixed.

More Party member conversations, I recall having at most 5 discussions with party members in ME2. Even Mass Effet one only had a handful of conversations, though each ME1 party member had more to say than any ME2 one. This probably had more to do with the fact that ME2 had double the amount of party members of ME1, but Dragon Age gave you 10 party members and they all had like 20 different conversation topics each.
Just a chance for Bioware to show off its writing muscle and for us as players to get to know the party members more.
I'd also suggest an approval system like Dragon Age, but I can understand if they want to keep Mass Effect's style seperate.

This one's merely nitpicking but, the character creation system for Male Shepards sucks, I can never make a guy that doesn't look like ass ugly. This has been a problem for both games and I think it has to do with the options for hair and eye types. Not really a huge problem but it bugs me.

More weapon, armor and item choice. Simply put, the vareity is nice. Also, it'd be cool if we could customize our allie's armor in the same way we could Shepard's.

Another nitpicky one, we got loyalty missions as the story progressed, this isn't much of a problem but I think it'd flow better if we got loyalty missions after we talked to our party members and got to know them a bit more so that they'd trust us enough to ask for our help. Again this one kinda stems from the fact that at least 4 of the party members were aquired much later in the story.

That's about it, I guess all my problems with Mass Effect stemmed mostly the story and mission structure. I can deal with gameplay issues but ME2's story and pacing, I felt, weren't as good.

Some of this is very good, it's also very realistic, do you mind if i post some of this under your name in the OP?. some of this might actually make it into the game

 

[Saintcole]

You forgot to add legion and joker for romance options