No "Meaningless Stat Games" in Mass Effect 3

Sunfirecross

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I never got how exactly this was a big deal. Someone please explain the outrage to me. I've always know things change or "evolve" as time progresses. As technology gets more advanced the genre line will continue to blur. If you like all those numbers and remnants of D&D based combat, that's awesome for you. How about you go play some D&D instead of wasting you own precious time on this planet then complaining how they changed something in a game.

Mass Effect was never an "RPG", however it was a Roleplaying game, where my choices and action actively changed game-world to some degree.
 

JeanLuc761

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Sunfirecross said:
Mass Effect was never an "RPG", however it was a Roleplaying game, where my choices and action actively changed game-world to some degree.
Mass Effect is and always has been a hybrid shooter/RPG. I'm relatively certain that even Bioware has confirmed this. For some reason, people think that the two genres can't exist together.
 

Timberwolf0924

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everyone just needs to stop saying how angry they are that Mass Effect is getting slight changes. ME1 and ME2 are totally different games and we loved the changes (maybe except for some greifers) but we've not seen the game. Stop crying until you see it and play it and hate it then tell Bioware they did a horrible job. I, for one, will wait to see if I hate it or what not before I decide that I will tell them they did. But if you find out that you love it, everyone here who have something negative to say about it will have words to eat. And no, it's not GOW in space, GOW sucks ass, Mass Effect is Gears of Wars pimp.. plain and simple.
 

sumanoskae

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How the fuck are they planning to streamline anything more then they did in Mass Effect 2?.

Okay, let me try to break down this sentence...

In Mass Effect 2, I wasn't aware of anything "Behind the scenes" increasing other then my weapon and biotic damage...

I'm REALLY trying to think of a way this will turn out well, but at this point it almost feels like Bioware is literally trying to provoke me!.
 

JeanLuc761

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Timberwolf0924 said:
And no, it's not GOW in space, GOW sucks ass, Mass Effect is Gears of Wars pimp.. plain and simple.
The only similarity is in the combat system but that's for good reason; Gears of War is the defining TPS with the best combat mechanics of any other game in its class.
 

Yarpie

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JeanLuc761 said:
I'm with you. We know barely anything about Mass Effect 3 and the only information I've heard has been good:
- Returning RPG elements.
- More fluid combat with swat turns and rolls (a la Gears of War)
- Weapon mods are returning from Mass Effect 1
- Melee will be improved with each character having a "kill" animation.
- Larger environments with less "chest-high-walls" level design.
- "Meaningless" stats will be replaced with real impacts (which is EXACTLY what this article says).

I'm sure there's more, but that's just the basics.

Would someone like to explain to me how ANY of that is a bad thing?
Two possible answers:
1. Bioware is now owned by EA, which automatically turns every change into something bad, killing the franchise. Never mind what the changes actually are, they are inheritly bad and dumb the game down.
2. The game does not apply a design philosophy which is over a decade old. As such it is not a true RPG and must be shunned by the "true" RPG-community. Therefore, anyone who actually likes it is a filthy peasant who can't appreciate proper games and should just go back to CoD.

From what I have seen in this thread, these seem to be the core answers as to why people are throwing a shitfit over this piece of information.
 

Sunfirecross

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JeanLuc761 said:
Sunfirecross said:
Mass Effect was never an "RPG", however it was a Roleplaying game, where my choices and action actively changed game-world to some degree.
Mass Effect is and always has been a hybrid shooter/RPG. I'm relatively certain that even Bioware has confirmed this. For some reason, people think that the two genres can't exist together.
I've been waiting for a game like the Mass Effect series for a long time now. Being at its core a shooter, but having a focus on story and RPG elements.

Hell, I'd like to see these people classify Star Control 2 into a Genre, a nigh impossible feat.
 

spartan231490

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Arehexes said:
So it's now 100% Gears of Wars in Space.
No. You still get to pick your class, even if they're all the same./sarcasm. lol, I really missed the RPG feel that was much more prevalent in ME than in ME2, but the OP has a point, ME2 was still fun to play.
 

Sharalon

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Sounds great to me! The meaningless minor stats and constantly changing weapons and armors for slightly better ones is always the worst part of an RPG. The really good bits come when you have to choose between two different weapons or armors that are equally good, but still different.

The way it worked in for example ME1 or Borderlands, it felt more like you had to stop every five minutes to file the proper paperwork.
 

Lordmarkus

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Glory to the Gods, number crunching in direct games is fucking tedious. I can take it in Dragon Age and the early Fallouts but missing an obvious dead on hit just because some imaginary dice in the code rolled a 9 instead of a 10 can destroy even the best games.

Yes, I'm looking at you Morrowind.
 

Fanboy

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All the people here complaining really noticed that +5% to shields from equipment, or 10% increased sprint speed? I sure didn't. Good riddance I say. I don't play games to crunch stats (single player games that is, you can't really help it in mumorpugers). I'd rather have significant choices in my equipment and stats than -5% biotic recharge time. I usually just pick which armor looks coolest anyways...
 

Hyper-space

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We just had an excellent thread about stats and meaningless problems (not choice) that plagued ME1. Long story short: ME2 got rid of all the stuff (such as equipment) that was just a matter of problem (that is, there was just one solution) and replaced all the equipment with meaningful choices, that is, there was actual thinking involved instead of just "which is better" and there was now a clear difference between weapons and equipment.

This does not have me worried, as stats are just a relic from the days of DnD and when visual representations/actions were limited. Now that we can have the characters ACTUALLY do stuff instead of just having the computer roll a dice to see if we were successful. Now we have to use skills instead of luck to perform actions, which is the logical evolution for the RPG genre.

So my dear Escapists, an RPG is not defined by how much it resembles an accountant's work, but if there is character progression (this can manifest itself in many ways), cause remember: RPGs should be about choice, not min-max'ing and problems. So Bioware is not getting rid of the RPG elements, but are advancing them, taking them from their non-visual past and bringing them into visual future. Crying over stuff like this is the same as crying over cars no longer having to use that old-timey handle on the front.

PS: future posters, please do not try to make yourself look superior by insinuating that you somehow have higher standard, for one you are wrong and two it makes you look like an elitist dick.
 

RA92

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Andy Chalk said:
What if we just reclassify Mass Effect as a shooter? Would that make everyone feel better? That's what ME2 was, after all, a conversational shooter, and it worked out very well.
I dunno... As a standalone shooter ME2 wasn't very good. And because I barely ever got to use my powers in the fast paced battles, the shooting got repetitive. The only reason ME2 had me hooked was because of the story.
 

JMeganSnow

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Duskflamer said:
I for one am extremely nervous about this news. "Behind the scenes stat games" makes me think of things like, weapon upgrades that add some percent damage increase or firing rate increase, does this announcement mean an end to the game's weapon customization?
I'm not sure how to interpret that statement either. I'm HOPING this means that they stopped putting in math where several variables are hidden so you pretty much have no option but to try it out to see how it works. My experience with a lot of games has shown me that "Increases damage by 10%" can mean a lot of different things, from (in my mind, the best case) when you hit someone, you do 10% more damage, to (worst case) you doing what might be some maybe slightly augmented form of damage but because there are about 35 different multipliers being applied and they don't stack the way you think they should because some of them don't affect the damage affected by other multipliers, the *actual numerical damage increase* is on the order of 3.5%, except on crits when it's like 75% for some unknown reason.

THAT is the kind of "behind the scenes stat games" that I HATE because I don't want to have to do freakin' calculus to figure out which of the stupid options is actually going to get me that "more damage" that I need. 10% more damage should mean: it takes the damage you do, and adds 10%. Not, it adds 10% to the base weapon damage ignoring modifiers from stats. Not, it adds 10% to your calculated overall damage after strength is applied but before skill modifiers. NO. TEN PERCENT DAMAGE INCREASE.

ANYWAY.
 

Fanboy

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Duskflamer said:
I for one am extremely nervous about this news. "Behind the scenes stat games" makes me think of things like, weapon upgrades that add some percent damage increase or firing rate increase, does this announcement mean an end to the game's weapon customization?
Don't be nervous. They are most likely replacing the universal weapon upgrade system from ME2 with the weapon mod system they plan to implement.

The universal upgrades like "10% increase to handgun damage" were not even a form of customization, since they were always active... unless you actively chose not to pick them up or research them.
 

teebeeohh

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EA and bioware really don't like the people who loved BG and KOTOR anymore. i mean as a company that is known for making rpgs you don't just announce that one of the pillars this genre stands on will be completely streamlined away without including more information.