BioWare Montreal Takes Over Mass Effect

[TheDrunkNinja]

snip

There was an odd error when I quoted you. Read my response above this post, please.

Apologies for the double post.

 

[Duffeknol]

Could not give two shits about the gameplay, as long as they hire people who can actually WRITE a damn COHERENT story.

Why don't you read a book, if you do not care about gameplay?

Because I like my stories to be interactive

 

[Nimzabaat]

Well thanks for changing your tune at least. The deceptive thing about ME2s sales figures is that they were based off of people (like me) expecting it to be an improvement over ME. Which it wasn't. And some people (like me) were upset about being duped, suckered, played for fools etc. In the only industry that does not allow returns (I wanted to give ME2 back after 30 min) not everything is black and white. But it was a big hit with the Gears of War fans!

My tune? I don't know what you mean. This is the first time I've written to you.

You seem to be assuming a lot of people had the same experience as yourself, which is no doubt true, but you must also consider that many people felt the same way that the rest of us do, not just people who like Gears of War (which, I must say, is an awful generalization on your part. I personally liked ME2 far better simply for the amazing experiences, set pieces, character depth, and better role-playability overall, not just the major improvement over combat and streamlining, but that's just my opinion).

Either way, that does not deter from my original point. The more popular a game is the more vocal the dissenters will be. It happens all the time. Your accusation that ME2 suckered people into complacency to purchase it is inaccurate considering that such a wide spread negative opinion, as you claim exists, would have replicated the exact same outburst of disappointment that people felt toward the Dragon Age series over the mediocre Dragon Age 2. After the wide spread disapproval of Dragon Age's sequel, people have doubted the entire series and are already calling out failure for the third entry.

This did not happen with the Mass Effect series. People were excited for the third one, overjoyed even. You did not see any doubters saying "It will probably suck, just like the last one", and if there were, they were clearly in the minority.

Mass Effect 2 has gotten scads of accolades, praises, and overall acceptance. Your opinion that it was the worst in the series is a valid one, but it is not one that is shared by general public. And it isn't because we're "idiot Gears of War fans". Such callous judgements only show distasteful ignorance on your part, sir.

As I said, it's just the way it is.

Mass Effect 2 blatantly ripped off the "roadie run" from Gears of War. It was a Gears of War THING. Blatant rip-off is blatant. Um... yeah I can't make that any clearer.

Oh and a funny thing that actually happened. Bioware had so little confidence in ME2 that they dropped the price to $40 dollars within a month or two of launch to get the sales figures up. Which worked in that ME2s sales UNITS through PC and Xbox were almost as high as ME (3.05 million for ME, 3.01 million for ME2), but the revenues weren't. True story.

And are you implying that I was the only one that missed the inventory system? So Bioware brought it back in ME3 just for me? Are you saying that I, the lone dissenting voice was THAT important to them? That they received no other complaints at all? Wow. I'm going to revel in how special that makes me feel. Thank you.

 

[crazyrabbits]

most bioware employees these days are just freelance contractors so you dont get the same staff continuing with products. im not suprised they are releasing substandard work

Well, actually, a large chunk of ME/ME2's core staff members left just before or during ME3's production. The man who programmed a large majority of the dialogue wheel conversations (his first name was Armando), Brent Knowles, Karpyshyn and a ton of others left, leaving Hudson and Walters as the only two senior members who had anything major to do with the original game.

Couple that with my argument that the team's goals for 3 were so lofty that there wasn't a chance in hell they'd finish it to the extent they wanted, and the fact that EA (being EA) forced monetization schemes/big marketing dollars into the project meant it was never going to turn out as well as the designers hoped. It's just another blip in the downward spiral for BW - if they had any confidence whatsoever in their product, they would have kept it with the core team in Edmonton, not ported it to the other side of the country.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Sir, you seem to be arguing with someone else, either that or you're reading my words and other words are taking their place in your mind. First that odd bit about changing my tune despite never having addressed you previously, now... well, everything you wrote here.

Mass Effect 2 blatantly ripped off the "roadie run" from Gears of War. It was a Gears of War THING. Blatant rip-off is blatant. Um... yeah I can't make that any clearer.

I made no mention of any Gears of War "roadie run". I don't play Gears of War and have never heard of it in anything Mass Effect related. If it is a ripoff, then it is the first time I've ever heard of it, thus I have no opinion on it. Either way, the only thing Gears of War related that I mentioned was the fact that you seemed to be so rooted in believing that the only people who like Mass Effect 2 are the lowly Gears of War fans that you think so poorly of. And again, I will say that your opinion of Mass Effect 2, while valid, is not shared by the general public, and it is not because everyone who likes Mass Effect 2 is one of those "stupid Gears fans" that your ignorant judgements have led you to believe so readily. And I still find such a judgement to be distasteful as you have yet to say you think otherwise, sir.

Oh and a funny thing that actually happened. Bioware had so little confidence in ME2 that they dropped the price to $40 dollars within a month or two of launch to get the sales figures up. Which worked in that ME2s sales UNITS through PC and Xbox were almost as high as ME (3.05 million for ME, 3.01 million for ME2), but the revenues weren't. True story.

If you don't mind me asking, I do question the validity of the "true story" that you just claimed. I don't recall such a radical price drop, nor would one make any sense on Bioware's part considering in the first week of release Mass Effect 2 had incredible financial success. You were eager to give links as proof of your argument (though they were easily dismissed considering the context that they were put in), and I gave you the courtesy of backing up my claim of Mass Effect 2 having the best sales of the three.

If you would be so kind as to back up your argument that Mass Effect 2 was doing so poorly that they had to drop the price to $40 within the first month, I would gratefully concede to your point.

And are you implying that I was the only one that missed the inventory system? So Bioware brought it back in ME3 just for me? Are you saying that I, the lone dissenting voice was THAT important to them? That they received no other complaints at all? Wow. I'm going to revel in how special that makes me feel. Thank you.

Now, this last point is one that made me extremely perplexed at the whole post and thus led me to believe that you must have been confused when you wrote it. It surprised me when you started making these wild accusations that I believed that you were the only one with complaints or that the game was infallible in any way. I recall stating quite clearly:

You seem to be assuming a lot of people had the same experience as yourself, which is no doubt true, but you must also consider that many people felt the same way that the rest of us do, not just people who like Gears of War.

I never denied that you were the "only one". Nor did I deny that your complaints were in anyway invalid:

Your opinion that it was the worst in the series is a valid one, but it is not one that is shared by general public.

My entire point is that not being the "only one" with a complaint about a game does not mean the game is a critical failure. All games receive criticism and complaints. To think otherwise is foolhardy. But as I said multiple times already, the games with the most critical reception always have the most vocal dissenters.

I would like to clarify myself since you seem to keep making these radical assumptions about me and what I'm trying to say. I am not saying that Mass Effect 2 is the best in the series. Liking one game more than the other is a subjective opinion. What I am saying is that Mass Effect 2 is the one with the most overall critical success and acceptance among the general public. That is all I'm arguing, and the fact that anyone would deny this clear and obvious fact puzzles me. It's fine that you didn't like the game, that's not what is being discussed.

Barring all that, you still never addressed any of my other points such as my Dragon Age comparison and started arguing a completely different argument as if you couldn't come up with any counterpoints and decided to ignore them all together. If you decide to respond to this post, at least address some the points I've presented before you tangent in another direction again, otherwise don't expect an answer from me. I'd hate to have to clarify all of this all over again.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

He also admitted that "it's probably going to be quite awhile" before the team has any meaningful details about Mass Effect 4 (or whatever it ends up being called) to share.

I don't trust any development studio that believes "awhile" is actually a word.