BioWare's Latest Franchise is Not Quite What We Expected

[MirenBainesUSMC]

Do we get to play as Marauder Shields?

 

[daibakuha]

Unlike some of you militant shitheads I actually have friends and do occasionally enjoy multiplayer titles.

I'll at least try it before shitting all over the basic premise. It's got some of Bioware's pedigree behind it, namely people like James Ohlen, who's as old Bioware as you can be at this point.

 

[Baddamobs]

Do we get to play as Marauder Shields?

You! You raise a valid question, one that should be answered. I would play the hell out of a game that let you do that.

Look here's my thoughts on this: maybe we should wait until more details come out before we judge it, since we're maybe not giving the game the chance it deserves.

HOWEVER: Let me clarify why people are so up in arms about this, so we're all on the same page.

The fact it's a 1v4: not bad in and out it self, but it seems odd how this has been announced AFTER the initial positive appeal of Evolve and other games like it. I understand that models of games follow success (hence all the shooters following CoD), but this hasn't even let the dust settle for that game, if you catch my meaning. It seems like their trying to throw their hat into the ring BEFORE the match has started, and just after they heard it was profitable to do so.

Episodic: Normally, this would be a good thing. It allows the developer to adjust the game to the fans reactions, and used right, is awesome (see The Walking Dead). Buuuut, this IS EA we're talking about. This can only spell out the worst possible reaction, and until they actually stop ripping out content of their games/THAT iOS game stops living in the recess of my memory, I won't blindly trust them.

Multiplayer story focused with choices: Not impossible, and part of me is curious to see if they can pull it off. But the rest of me is more thinking that such a thing CAN be pulled off in games that have larger then two focus players (See Divinity: Original Sin for a good example of this being pulled off, but note that this game was made for specifically for two people; any more, and the story and choices become messy).

The name/setting:
...
... I have nothing to defend this. It's a little too...Shadowrun/Secret World-y for my likes, and I think both of those games are great, just...
...Can we go somewhere other then fantasy land and modern times for these kind of things? Were's my Crusades MMO, or some really bizarre but cool and charming world, like...Patapons. Or anything.
I KNOW that there are games like that, and there are games that have that kind of settings. My point is, fantasy/magic in the modern world has been done a lot, and I think people just think we don't need another one to add on the ever growing pile.


Aaaaanyway, I think we should at least wait for a few more details before dismissing it, but I'll freely admit that the above points aren't filling me with confidence.

 

[beastro]

They need to go back and reexamine old series like Jade Empire.

 

[hiei82]

Well... that's a big letdown. Normally when I hear Bioware is doing something I immediately reach for my wallet knowing they earn all my money but this time... cooperative multiplayer only? That is definitively not what I expect or want from Bioware. For what may be the first time since I started playing videogames, I'm gonna pass on a BioWare title.


I'm guessing this is happening because of EA's well documented bias against single-player experiences - "I have not green lit one game to be developed as a single player experience." [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119449-EA-Turns-Its-Back-on-Single-Player-Games]. Ah well, maybe the next game will be better.

God I hope the new Mass Effect title doesn't end up some kind of multiplayer monstrosity...

 

[Atmos Duality]

God I hope the new Mass Effect title doesn't end up some kind of multiplayer monstrosity...

I wouldn't hold my breath.

The shift to Multiplayer-only is fueled by two big incentives:
1) It's redundant and comparatively "inexhaustible" compared to single player content.
(man hours invested creating a section of content vs hours a player spends playing through it)

2) It offers an excuse to force service-centric elements into the game and onto players.
In shot, it leads to more chances to monetize.

For EA, it's just an extension of their "monkey-see, monkey-do"; Call of Duty makes megabucks purely on its multiplayer, so multiplayer is the new model to be.

 

[El Luck]

Hey Bioware, we need to talk. Y'see this?


This is gameplay.

Your teaser trailer that tells me fuck all? Yeah, that's not gameplay. Your getting in to a bad habit doing this.