BioWare Launches Survey to Help Direct Mass Effect 4

[shirkbot]

I took the survey. I basically told them to just make a next-gen version of Mass Effect 1 XD

*High Five* That was the only Mass Effect I played, and quite frankly I think I'm better for it. I didn't think the story needed continuation, and once I found out the planet-level exploration had been cut I just stopped caring. What I really want is Mass Effect without focus on humans and with more exploring. And probably less combat. I remember not liking the combat...

OT: Marketing Survey or no, I'll pitch in my two cents. Hopefully it's helpful, but ultimately they need to sell it without Origin before I'll consider purchasing it.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

This is a bad idea. As I've said before, the Bioware Social Forums are absolutely toxic and filled with horrible people. Asking them to help make your game is like asking Roland Emmerich to direct a porno.

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Is "Fire David Gaider and Mike Laidlaw" an option?

I'm still wondering what happened between Bioware's embarrassingly conceited response to ME3 criticism and their new "People liked Skyrim! Let's do Skyrim stuff!" attitude.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I put in my two cents. I found it odd that there seemed to be such an emphasis on appearance in the survey, especially even including the cosplay question. For me, Mass Effect was never about making my Shepherd look particularly special. I mean, he was my Shepherd and didn't look like the standard model but I doubt you'd be able to pick him out on the street or anything.

 

[Ticklefist]

Mass Effect is like a NASCAR race. You only need to watch for the final lap to know how everything turned out.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

"Don't screw up the ending" gets my vote.

And give my Shepard the happy ending she deserves. Just have her make a cameo or something with Liara and a bunch of little blue children.

I wish I was excited about this game. I wish I was excited about anything Mass Effect related now, but I'm just not. The video they showed from E3 just screamed at me that they hadn't learned any lessons from Mass Effect 3 so I fear the fourth one won't be all that amazing.

 

[LobsterFeng]

Stop pandering to the tumblr crowd like what you're doing with DA:I. I don't think they have that option though.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Neat I guess, but since this is EA and they never listen to what we want let's try reverse psychology!
"Can we vote for an ending with the color pink, it was the only real thing Mass Effect 3 was truly missing, so go ahead and keep the ending stale and pointless!... oh yeah and some microtransactions would be stellar. Something along the lines of Dungeon Keeper, to really sell the innovation."

 

[MarsProbe]

Did the survey. Put simply, I just want my Mako and explorable planets back (though in a mire interesting form this time please).

 

[Trishbot]

Did the survey, hopefully they are actually constructive and don't just make the game a beige pile of goo. Listen to people but still use common sense.

Honestly, that's BioWare's biggest problem. They listen to outside commentary far too much, rather then being confident.

To be fair, the "outside commentary" resulted in a significantly improved ending compared to the original ME3 conclusion, as well as shaping what was easily the best DLC of the game with Citadel.

Sometimes the fans know what they're talking about. I think Bioware is actually smart enough to know when to listen to GOOD feedback and when to filter out the white noise.

 

[AntiChri5]

Did the survey, hopefully they are actually constructive and don't just make the game a beige pile of goo. Listen to people but still use common sense.

Honestly, that's BioWare's biggest problem. They listen to outside commentary far too much, rather then being confident.

To be fair, the "outside commentary" resulted in a significantly improved ending compared to the original ME3 conclusion, as well as shaping what was easily the best DLC of the game with Citadel.

Sometimes the fans know what they're talking about. I think Bioware is actually smart enough to know when to listen to GOOD feedback and when to filter out the white noise.

Yeah but that's ignoring the central problem with listening to the fans. Theres fucking millions of us and we damn near never agree on anything.

Anyway, it's been my experience that BioWare isn't that good at filtering out the good feedback from the bad. Almost everything i disliked in ME3 i saw fans begging for on the forums.

 

[LazyAza]

I just want ME to be good again Bioware. What made it good was customization, exploration, side stories and likable characters I cared about and got attached to. With each sequel their was less and less of that.

So do the opposite of ME3 and you should be able to make at least a game almost as good as 2, maybe.

 

[Trishbot]

Yeah but that's ignoring the central problem with listening to the fans. Theres fucking millions of us and we damn near never agree on anything.

Anyway, it's been my experience that BioWare isn't that good at filtering out the good feedback from the bad. Almost everything i disliked in ME3 i saw fans begging for on the forums.

It was the opposite for me. ALL the problems I had with ME3 were stuff that, almost universally, the fans agreed with (mostly the ending needed a major overhaul).

Everything from the lack of RPG mechanics, the lack of vehicles, the smaller cast, the negating of big decisions like the Rachni and the Council, the eavesdropping quests, the fetch quests, the sidelining of most of ME2's cast, the Liara plot-armor, the highly disappointing final Earth mission compared to the Suicide Mission, the mess of Tali's face revealed... almost everyone was in agreement with these points that they were weak, weren't what was asked for or advertised, or needed seriously improvement.

Meanwhile, they surprisingly made a believer out of people with a shockingly great multiplayer mode.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Actually, Bioware has been doing Cosplay kit type blog entries for Dragon Age: Inquisition for several weeks now and they put Cosplay pictures in both their Facebook and Google+ feeds regularly - either just as appreciation of the costume or as a photo for a question / inquiry / response generator for the related game.

 

[webkilla]

I will actually give the survey credit

There was plenty of options to give personalized feedback, not just "rate this from 1 to 5" or "check off what games you usually play"

 

[pearcinator]

Survey is pretty broad and doesn't really provide much data. Nevertheless, it needs to have combat like Mass Effect 3 but play more like KOTOR (as far as exploration and sidequests go). Gear needs to have stats apart from % bonuses which amount to pretty much nothing in the scheme of things.

How you build you character should be important. Mass Effect 3 was easy on Insanity difficulty because Shepard was OP from the get-go. The multiplayer characters with their limited levelling options actually provided better, more difficult gameplay. The way you built your character in multiplayer was very important; unlike single player where you could put your points anywhere without any thought and still breeze through the game. Maybe not as efficiently as someone who had but still wouldn't have much difficulty.

 

[zinho73]

They should worry less about marketing and stop trying to please everyone. They should just do a damn good game that they are proud to call their own. A great game is a work of art, and although good commercial artists are aware of their public sensibilities, they do not keep trying to please everyone, they do what they think is best.

Look at Diablo 3. It is a game that never left development and that it is still mediocre. A game without vision nor personality with Blizzard trying to run after all their fans in all directions. The amount of time and money they placed in that game after launch is scary and the title still fails to impress.

They will never do a great game if they worry too much about the market and the marketing.
The more they care about it, the less interesting are their games. Focus on gameplay, people. Man, I hate marketing driven companies (and I am a marketing professional). They just lose their soul.

It may also be just a marketing ploy to appease the fans with very little actual influence on the matter. Which is also terrible.

TLDR: this pool is a bad idea if they do not intend to listen and an even worse idea if they do.

 

[zinho73]

Did the survey, hopefully they are actually constructive and don't just make the game a beige pile of goo. Listen to people but still use common sense.

Honestly, that's BioWare's biggest problem. They listen to outside commentary far too much, rather then being confident.

To be fair, the "outside commentary" resulted in a significantly improved ending compared to the original ME3 conclusion, as well as shaping what was easily the best DLC of the game with Citadel.

Sometimes the fans know what they're talking about. I think Bioware is actually smart enough to know when to listen to GOOD feedback and when to filter out the white noise.

I guess one thing is to provide direction. They should not need this. If they do, we will have a bad game.
Another thing is to pay attention on the sensibilities of their crowd (Citadel DLC).
And another thing is to be force fed a humble pie after a terrible piece of work in a beloved franchise (the ME3 ending).
The survey is a terrible idea. Bioware is very lost in the marketing department (as most of the big companies are nowadays).

 

[Vault101]

I don't see the point if its a pre quel or side sequel....

for me its actual sequel or nothing, and MABYE the only way I'll ever feel right about the series again

 

[Vault101]

Did the survey, hopefully they are actually constructive and don't just make the game a beige pile of goo. Listen to people but still use common sense.

Honestly, that's BioWare's biggest problem. They listen to outside commentary far too much, rather then being confident.

except last time they were "confident".....well mabye it was only that one guy