Bioware Appeals For Calm Regarding Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer

[stranamente]

It just seems so pointless. Everything i've heard about it so far makes it out to be a stripped down version of Horde mode. Why would I want to play that? No, seriously, why would anyone choose to play Mass Effect's version of a game mode that is significantly inferior to the version found in Gears of War or Halo (Or pretty much any other multiplayer-centric game these days).

It just feels tacked on, as if it were just "expected" of them. If you know it's not going to be a big part of the game, and you know it's not going to be something people will keep coming back to, why include it at all?

I agree with him completely.

I hope EA is pleased now. With their stupid ideas.
Is there a publisher around the world who actually knows something about the game they support?

 

[MercurySteam]

That picture is pure gold.

I was a bit sceptical about ME3 online, but they've made it so that nothing dampens the SP experience so I don't see the harm. I will still try it out of course, I mean, who doesn't want to play as an Asari, Krogan or Turian?

 

[The Bandit]

first they add the "very optional" Kinect use, then the "very optional" multiplayer... my main fear is that Mass Effect 3 ends ruined because it tried to be too much of everything... also I forsee the "ultimate dick move" of adding achievements to the "very optional" multiplayer :S

Yeah, because achievements aren't optional...?

 

[Metalrocks]

I was a bit sceptical about ME3 online, but they've made it so that nothing dampens the SP experience so I don't see the harm. I will still try it out of course, I mean, who doesn't want to play as an Asari, Krogan or Turian?

lol, you got a point there. playing garrus or liara etc. sounds like a ncie thing. even when im happy enough with my shepard.

 

[Rad Party God]

Oh gee, I heard those BioWare fans are just as open minded and calm as the Sonic fans and they embrace change with open arms!

 

[WonderWillard]

I love Mass Effect so much, but sometimes I really fucking hate the fans of it. Or just Bioware fans, because they are so unbelievably bitchy. The sequel to Dragon Age wasn't quite as good as the first, they all flip shit and have a meltdown. OPTIONAL multiplayer is announced for Mass Effect 3, and Bioware assures us that it was made by a separate team, so literally nothing is being taken away from the single player. I see virtually nothing wrong with this, because if it works and its fun, then sweet I get to play ME3 with my friends, and if it doesn't work and its not fun, then I'll just keep on playing the singleplayer. Bioware fans need to seriously chill the fuck out.

 

[Dargocitfer]

And once again, that money was spent on the production of a single product, not an entirely new product. EA felt that ME3 was worth investing n amount of dollars on and some of that money was invested into multiplayer. That the money was spent on an entirely different development team is irrelevant. Did Eidos have "extra" money because they outsourced their boss fights? No, they spent part of the game's budget on the boss fights. There is no such thing as extra budget if all budget is used.

omg let me try i and do mean TRY to explain this to you. they had a budget for JUST the SP, which they used to make it. you with me so far? Now after they made what we will know as ME3s single player they took this idea for the MP to EA and told them how much MORE money they would need to put it in and guess what? they got it. Bioware never planed to have MP in ME3 but they liked the idea and added it in after finishing the rest of the game which is why it was delayed. now if you want to say they took more time to release it to add the dam MP then yes your right but to say that the budget was effected is just not factual.

Actually that's the first time you tried to explain anything, and if that is, in fact, how it worked out, then I agree there is a difference. Is this actually documented anywhere? I can't imagine that it's common for a developer to finish a game, then request more money to add more features (made by different developers) and actually get said money. I mean delays happen, but usually its because development/testing is taking longer than expected, not because they finished and just didn't feel like releasing the game.

I don't have any specific insight into this issue, but I have dealt with large corporations and budgets before. What is probably closer to the truth is that the first ME3 team could have begged and pleaded and swore that they could make the coolest game *EVAR* with a full Gilbert and Sullivan Operetta production in the middle if they could just have a *tiny* bit more budget, and the masters at EA would say, "No way. This is your budget. This is all you get."

Then, someone pointed out that if they tacked a Multiplayer option on, they might get X more sales, and then EA decreed that a 2nd budget be created for the Multiplayer team.

I would be very surprised if *any* originally allocated ME3 budget was diverted to create the Multiplayer piece.

 

[Clonekiller]

For crying out loud people. Casey Hudson has an excellent track record, and has continually expressed his desire to fully realize the Mass Effect experience for the players. He delivered on that with Mass Effect 1 & 2. Have a little faith will ya?

 

[ecoho]

And you DO NOT have to play it to get the best singleplayer ending! So [i/]please[/i] shut up and let the rest of us go back to deluding ourselves into thinking that humanity is actually smart.

Also, it was really hard to read this article with that image.

You don't HAVE to let me convince you not to delude yourself. You're perfectly capable of tuning out any negativity that you choose. So PLEASE shut up and let the rest of us go back to criticizing them for making stupid PR decisions!

See? "I don't want to understand your side of the argument, so PBBBBBT!" Doesn't really hold up as an argument, does it? It doesn't resolve anything or bring about understanding, it's just childish.

There's always a separate team for the single-player and a separate team for the multiplayer. It doesn't matter if they have two studios working on it or not, there's only so much budget to go around, and the tech team that both sides have to report back to has to screw around with a lot of networking tech in addition to the main engine driving the game, which they've previously stated is getting a big overhaul. It's no wonder the game had to be delayed, but the real point is, resources are resources. That extra manpower costs something--very notably something that I hear was diverted from the budget of Dragon Age 2.

I know the arguments that your side keeps spouting: "It'll ruin the SP due to less resources" or "It'll ruin ME cuz I don't want MP" seem to be the most common. Where did I say I didn't want to understand the other sides argument? All I did was inform someone about what BioWare had said twice now. Then I explained in "SP terms" what ME multiplayer was for those advocates of argument #2. I know that two separate teams work on multiplayer and singleplayer, HOWEVER they are usually in the same studio. Now that BioWare has two studios working on this that means they have twice as many resources and can double the work they produce each man-hour. Regardless of that, I agree with you that resources are always limited and I'm worried about argument #1 proving true as well, but I have a cautiously optimistic outlook on things like this. You don't, that's cool, but that doesn't mean you have to insult me for having a different view on life just to make a point.

They do not have twice as much resources. They have the same resources. They are just dividing it between two development teams. It's very simple.

This will always be true. One thing that is almost universally true in game development is that you never have enough budget/development time to put every feature into a game that you would like. Something always gets left out. By devoting resources to multiplayer, Bioware (or more likely EA) have made the conscious decision to divert those resources away from more or improved single player content that could have been included. This is true of all games, of course, but the reason people make a big deal of it with this game is because the series has been single player thus far. Will Mass Effect 3 be a bad game because of this decision? Probably not. I still plan on buying the game. But the argument against multiplayer does have some merit.

sorry to burst your bubble but thats not how it works. each studio is given a budget they work with said budget. so the amount of money that was first approved for ME SP is still ONLY being used for the SP! Now the MP studio was given another budget for JUST THE MP! i hope that clears this up

Which means that said money spent on two studios was available. That money was spent to develop a single game with a single pricepoint that will not have changed due to the fact that multiplayer was added. The chart still applies.

uhm no it doesnt. see and im not meaning to be insulting but the chart you use is just misleading it should be +n not minus as the budget was increased with the adding of the MP.

And once again, that money was spent on the production of a single product, not an entirely new product. EA felt that ME3 was worth investing n amount of dollars on and some of that money was invested into multiplayer. That the money was spent on an entirely different development team is irrelevant. Did Eidos have "extra" money because they outsourced their boss fights? No, they spent part of the game's budget on the boss fights. There is no such thing as extra budget if all budget is used.

omg let me try i and do mean TRY to explain this to you. they had a budget for JUST the SP, which they used to make it. you with me so far? Now after they made what we will know as ME3s single player they took this idea for the MP to EA and told them how much MORE money they would need to put it in and guess what? they got it. Bioware never planed to have MP in ME3 but they liked the idea and added it in after finishing the rest of the game which is why it was delayed. now if you want to say they took more time to release it to add the dam MP then yes your right but to say that the budget was effected is just not factual.

Actually that's the first time you tried to explain anything, and if that is, in fact, how it worked out, then I agree there is a difference. Is this actually documented anywhere? I can't imagine that it's common for a developer to finish a game, then request more money to add more features (made by different developers) and actually get said money. I mean delays happen, but usually its because development/testing is taking longer than expected, not because they finished and just didn't feel like releasing the game.

ok im sorry for going a little off the deep end on you that was writen on a bad day and i apologize.

as to what i finally explained i cant remember were i read it but Bioware had already had the SP well into beta when EA asked them to do the MP they told EA that they needed more money to do it and well lets just say EA has learned not to say no to Bioware when it comes to flagship games.

 

[A Gent of Villainous Intent]

It just seems so pointless. Everything i've heard about it so far makes it out to be a stripped down version of Horde mode. Why would I want to play that? No, seriously, why would anyone choose to play Mass Effect's version of a game mode that is significantly inferior to the version found in Gears of War or Halo (Or pretty much any other multiplayer-centric game these days).

You can play as a Krogan.

Your arguments are invalid.

 

[A Gent of Villainous Intent]

These people who complain are obviously not fans of Mass Effect at all, not have played ANY of the games ever.

Because you can play as a Krogan.

And these people are complaining.

BioWare has just given you all the greatest gift they could ever possibly give and you people complain.

Congrats, you've forced me to fly each Studio to give everyone there hugs cause YOUR HORRIBLE.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

As long as the singleplayer won't be negatively affected I don't mind the co-op. But in all seriousness, I want the option to play it alone. I never cared much for the fumbling meatbags stumbling into my line of fire all the time. I get enough of those in TF2, I don't need them in Mass Effect as well.

 

[Oro44]

There's actually a really simple way to appease the ME fans. Replace all multiplayer characters with Tali. Boom. Instant satisfaction.

 

[JasonKaotic]

It's not that I thought I'd be forced to play co-op, it's that them spending money to add multiplayer features means that the overall game quality will be reduced so they can afford it.
Very few games with a co-op feature have a genuinely good single player campaign.

 

[otakon17]

I'm all for co-op myself. I've personally wished that when Shepard went down, instead of a game over you take temporary control of your closest squadmate. Then, you have like thirty seconds or something to revive Shepard, THEN you get a game over if you fail to do that. I ALWAYS hated that in some games the game ends if the MC is incapacitated, but as long as you have the resources you can pick your allies back back ad infinity but they can't do the same for you.
....
Sorry, a little off-topic, ahem.
OT: As long as you aren't forced to play multiplayer to fully enjoy the single player aspect of the game and the single player doesn't suffer because someone insisted on MP, I'm fine with it myself. Sorry, one more off-topic, who else feels that Pinnacle Station would have done much better in Mass Effect 2?

 

[Yvl9921]

It's that now everything in the main game is optional, and loses some of its spirit.

I'd be all for multiplayer that didn't have this effect on the game, though.

Where the hell have you read this? Seriously, what have you read that has told you that everything in the main game is optional?

All the side quests. You know what I mean.

 

[Craazhy]

[sarcasm]I'm not a business guy, but if I were BioWare I would make sure my studio general managers knew how to answer questions with answers that actually correspond to the issue.[/sarcasm]

 

[Yvl9921]

All the side quests. You know what I mean.

No, I haven't got the foggiest what you mean. Side quests are always optional. The co-op here is just a bunch of additional side quests and like all side quests its completely free to ignore.

From what I understand, you would need to do all the side quests to complete the main story. Now, instead, you can grind your way around the awesome story filled side quests. This bothers me, because now I don't feel like I have as much of an incentive to do those side quests. What keeps tearing at me is the idea of what this would've been like in ME2 - someone's doing all the crew's missions, gets to, say, Jacob's, and says "You know what, I'll give multiplayer a try" and never gets to see Jacob's missions, which is the best mission by far imo.

Although it occurs to me that all this is based on the rather silly assumption that people will play the game only once. I guess the option could be pretty nice if there's a quest or two that just bugs you and you don't feel like going through a second time.

 

[Mangue Surfer]

Dreamworks face, lol!

Well about the multiplayer, cost money to make and money don't grow in trees, it's have to come from somewhere.

 

[sumanoskae]

On the contrary, the Co-op actually looks pretty good, but that doesn't make it any more relevant.

Multiplayer is the go to option for developers unsure of how to advance their design, it's also expensive and time consuming.

I'm not worried that the multiplayer will get in the way, I'm worried that this was all they could think of.

There were numerous problems with Mass Effect 2 that I don't see being addressed, without the omni-blade you'd be forgiven for taking a look at the gameplay and mistaking it for DLC.

After Dragon Age II,(the worst game BioWare's ever made) I'm wary of their state. They don't seem to be doing much with Mass Effect 3, a couple of them even expressed distaste for the RPG genre in general. With the introduction of something as off message as multiplayer, it's starting to seem like they'd rather be doing something else, like they're running out of ideas.