Stolen Pixels #257: The Electronic Artists

[Kenjitsuka]

"Truly, these people are visionaries."
Except their vision is delusional and quite bleak?

Just saying, there are many, many different kinds of visions one can have

 

[Crimsane]

I get it's a comic, but <cue complaint that largely ignores that comics can take artistic liberties in order to be funny - and that's what this comic is, funny>

lulz. As for most of the rest of this thread... I don't see where Shamus said the game would be bad. Not once.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Some people actually percieve a trend towards less sexuality in Bioware games. But whatever.

The secondary point is that EA are tweaking Bioware's game. That phrase is the one that brings chills. EA lying is what we've come to expect.

 

[BlindChance]

I can't believe I'm saying these words, but I have literally no desire to play Mass Effect 3. Unbelievable. I actually have no desire to play a Bioware game.

Hear hear. How do we start an organised boycott?

 

[Metzeten]

Oh god I wish you could do that to that damn woman in the actual game.
With the ME3 story I bet the reapers beat me to it and kill her ¬.¬

OT: I think people are just reading too much into whats been said, with noone having played it yet, we can't know if its gonna be that much different to the ME2 at least.

 

[Neuromaster]

I laughed out loud.

 

[Danceofmasks]

Bioware: You gotta push the date, 'cos we found stuff we want to fix.
EA: Well, let us do the talking. We're the publisher, it's what we do. What's the game, again?

 

[Gralian]

Thank fuck for the stripping down of RPG elements in Mass Effect.

Because frankly, it always was a shooter, not a slow turn-based system like NWN2 or KOTOR. It tried to be a shooter with number crunching, and you know what the result was? Booooring.

Mass Effect 2 went the right way; exciting gunplay supported by special abilties that work on a cooldown. Like the perfect blend of the TPRS, or "Third Person Roleplaying-Shooter", sort of like what Borderlands tried to do in the first person variety. (Though to be frank, even the RPG elements on that were way too heavy handed. I want my guns to be guns, not see numbers drown out the screen)

Not to mention the utter relief in there being no inventory. Do you know how fucking annoying it was to have to open that shit up every five to ten minutes just to turn everything into omni-gel so i'd have more room to pick up yet more junk and repeat the process all over again? In the end, i just gave up looting, because i was sick to death of it. I really hope we get the same weapon and armour management we got in ME2.

I will agree that the 'ye olde RPG mechanics' do still have a place in gaming, but they have a place in hacky-slashy titles. Not shooter titles. It just doesn't gel well, at all. Dragon Age can keep its Neverwinter Nights mechanics; but it just doesn't belong in Mass Effect.

Oh, and the responses in the comic did elicit a few chuckles from me.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I can't believe I'm saying these words, but I have literally no desire to play Mass Effect 3. Unbelievable. I actually have no desire to play a Bioware game.

Hear hear. How do we start an organised boycott?

First, practice by herding cats.

 

[bootz]

Thank fuck for the stripping down of RPG elements in Mass Effect.

Because frankly, it always was a shooter, not a slow turn-based system like NWN2 or KOTOR. It tried to be a shooter with number crunching, and you know what the result was? Booooring.

Mass Effect 2 went the right way; exciting gunplay supported by special abilties that work on a cooldown. Like the perfect blend of the TPRS, or "Third Person Roleplaying-Shooter", sort of like what Borderlands tried to do in the first person variety. (Though to be frank, even the RPG elements on that were way too heavy handed. I want my guns to be guns, not see numbers drown out the screen)

Not to mention the utter relief in there being no inventory. Do you know how fucking annoying it was to have to open that shit up every five to ten minutes just to turn everything into omni-gel so i'd have more room to pick up yet more junk and repeat the process all over again? In the end, i just gave up looting, because i was sick to death of it. I really hope we get the same weapon and armour management we got in ME2.

I will agree that the 'ye olde RPG mechanics' do still have a place in gaming, but they have a place in hacky-slashy titles. Not shooter titles. It just doesn't gel well, at all. Dragon Age can keep its Neverwinter Nights mechanics; but it just doesn't belong in Mass Effect.

Oh, and the responses in the comic did elicit a few chuckles from me.

Go play CoD or Cyrsis 2 or Killzone or Bulletstorm or Bad company 2 or the othe million generic shooters you really want to play.

 

[BlindChance]

First, practice by herding cats.

Touché. The sad thing is, it may just be Bioware has no more place in the current market. Their game design really seems to need a good two-three year development cycle, and in the AAA world, it seems one year is all companies can afford. I just hope ME3 doesn't sell so well that EA feel happy about it.

Frankly, I really hope it bombs.

 

[seditary]

I always enjoy the massive amounts of contradiction things like this bring out in people. They rail against stat shenanigans and samey gameplay mechanics in other games but when talking about Bioware its all 'give us more stat shit and everything else should be more of the same we played before!'

I also remember the crap ME2 got before its release and shortly afterwards. I'm fairly confident the same thing will happen again, a few weirdos will hate it and loads will love the shit out of it.

 

[rickynumber24]

I think this thread just about makes it official. Nu-Bioware fanboys have become one of the most obnoxious groups of fanboys, with one of the most zealous intolerances for criticism of their beloved company, of the current gaming community.

Spoiler

Thank fuck for the stripping down of RPG elements in Mass Effect.

Because frankly, it always was a shooter, not a slow turn-based system like NWN2 or KOTOR. It tried to be a shooter with number crunching, and you know what the result was? Booooring.

Mass Effect 2 went the right way; exciting gunplay supported by special abilties that work on a cooldown. Like the perfect blend of the TPRS, or "Third Person Roleplaying-Shooter", sort of like what Borderlands tried to do in the first person variety. (Though to be frank, even the RPG elements on that were way too heavy handed. I want my guns to be guns, not see numbers drown out the screen)

Not to mention the utter relief in there being no inventory. Do you know how fucking annoying it was to have to open that shit up every five to ten minutes just to turn everything into omni-gel so i'd have more room to pick up yet more junk and repeat the process all over again? In the end, i just gave up looting, because i was sick to death of it. I really hope we get the same weapon and armour management we got in ME2.

I will agree that the 'ye olde RPG mechanics' do still have a place in gaming, but they have a place in hacky-slashy titles. Not shooter titles. It just doesn't gel well, at all. Dragon Age can keep its Neverwinter Nights mechanics; but it just doesn't belong in Mass Effect.

Oh, and the responses in the comic did elicit a few chuckles from me.

Go play CoD or Cyrsis 2 or Killzone or Bulletstorm or Bad company 2 or the othe million generic shooters you really want to play.

I have real difficulty believing that your "Nu-Bioware fanboys" are any more vehement than the people who declare that nobody who plays a shooter would ever want to pay attention to the story and the people who want to play a shooter with characterization should go back to playing shooters without characterization.

Also, frankly, it is a shooter and always has been, this coming from someone who hates most shooters (The exceptions are the Mass Effect series, TF2, and Portal. Yes, I'm a PC gamer. Also, I was soured on shooters by UT, which moves too quickly for me.)

Spoiler

Of course, in the spirit full disclosure, I should admit that, after buying the first two when discounted, I'm pretty sure I'm going to pre-order ME3. ... but I missed the weapon customizability from the first game.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

lol. epic comic shamus.

Sadly I still have this to say regardless of how ME has been trying to suit the needs of shooter gamers and RPG gamers.

I do have to say though despite all my love for Mass Effect 1... The way Mass Effect 2 has gone has made me lose so much interest in the game... I mean I wasn't AT ALL interested with the first one to begin with because it lacked the shooter concept that most games were pitching to me with their trailers and box art.

But then I gave it a try, got some help from some mates who've played it and ended up loving almost every bit of it as if part of my changed and I stopped becoming a shooter game addict and started liking other game genres!!

It's like what Prey 2 has become... So much has changed that it isn't even a sequel... It just has the same names of things.

 

[Gralian]

Thank fuck for the stripping down of RPG elements in Mass Effect.

Because frankly, it always was a shooter, not a slow turn-based system like NWN2 or KOTOR. It tried to be a shooter with number crunching, and you know what the result was? Booooring.

Mass Effect 2 went the right way; exciting gunplay supported by special abilties that work on a cooldown. Like the perfect blend of the TPRS, or "Third Person Roleplaying-Shooter", sort of like what Borderlands tried to do in the first person variety. (Though to be frank, even the RPG elements on that were way too heavy handed. I want my guns to be guns, not see numbers drown out the screen)

Not to mention the utter relief in there being no inventory. Do you know how fucking annoying it was to have to open that shit up every five to ten minutes just to turn everything into omni-gel so i'd have more room to pick up yet more junk and repeat the process all over again? In the end, i just gave up looting, because i was sick to death of it. I really hope we get the same weapon and armour management we got in ME2.

I will agree that the 'ye olde RPG mechanics' do still have a place in gaming, but they have a place in hacky-slashy titles. Not shooter titles. It just doesn't gel well, at all. Dragon Age can keep its Neverwinter Nights mechanics; but it just doesn't belong in Mass Effect.

Oh, and the responses in the comic did elicit a few chuckles from me.

Go play CoD or Cyrsis 2 or Killzone or Bulletstorm or Bad company 2 or the othe million generic shooters you really want to play.

Oh wow, lump me in with another crowd entirely. Thanks for that.

Why does it have to be double or nothing? Why do i have to have mindless grey shooter (FIRST person shooter, going by that list) or number cruncher? I want the story. I want the great universe and lore. I just don't want it bogged down with clumsy combat mechanics and needlessly obtuse inventory systems.

Swords and fireballs are slow. Guns are fast. Gun combat should be fast paced, it's not like a "you hit me, i hit you" slow sword and board combat you find in fantasy games, is it? Can you see really not see why heavy RPG systems would compliment a game like Dragon Age rather than Mass Effect?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite evasive answer on the Citadel.

EA also did the same thing with Command and Conquer 4.

Many people are against a lot of the changes in ME3, but true to form, EA only listens to the monies.

 

[Fensfield]

Well, whatever happens, I'll buy it to see the end of the story.

And thus will likely end my brief interaction with Bioware >.>

 

[Boba Frag]

Loving the return to your glorious ways with this brilliant update, Shamus!

I don't trust EA as far as I can throw them either, but let's hope that BioWare has enough clout of its own to be able to stand up to the narrow minded stupidity of EA's execs.
To be fair, I'm way more of a fan of the Mass Effect rather than the Dragon Age games, and this coming from a guy that's IN LOVE with the fantasy genre.

The Mass Effect games just seem to belong to far more interesting universe, with more original takes on the genre, I guess.

Plus there are big shooty lasers.

This One shall pray to the Enkindlers for BioWare's soul.

 

[bootz]

Thank fuck for the stripping down of RPG elements in Mass Effect.

Because frankly, it always was a shooter, not a slow turn-based system like NWN2 or KOTOR. It tried to be a shooter with number crunching, and you know what the result was? Booooring.

Mass Effect 2 went the right way; exciting gunplay supported by special abilties that work on a cooldown. Like the perfect blend of the TPRS, or "Third Person Roleplaying-Shooter", sort of like what Borderlands tried to do in the first person variety. (Though to be frank, even the RPG elements on that were way too heavy handed. I want my guns to be guns, not see numbers drown out the screen)

Not to mention the utter relief in there being no inventory. Do you know how fucking annoying it was to have to open that shit up every five to ten minutes just to turn everything into omni-gel so i'd have more room to pick up yet more junk and repeat the process all over again? In the end, i just gave up looting, because i was sick to death of it. I really hope we get the same weapon and armour management we got in ME2.

I will agree that the 'ye olde RPG mechanics' do still have a place in gaming, but they have a place in hacky-slashy titles. Not shooter titles. It just doesn't gel well, at all. Dragon Age can keep its Neverwinter Nights mechanics; but it just doesn't belong in Mass Effect.

Oh, and the responses in the comic did elicit a few chuckles from me.

Go play CoD or Cyrsis 2 or Killzone or Bulletstorm or Bad company 2 or the othe million generic shooters you really want to play.

Oh wow, lump me in with another crowd entirely. Thanks for that.

Why does it have to be double or nothing? Why do i have to have mindless grey shooter (FIRST person shooter, going by that list) or number cruncher? I want the story. I want the great universe and lore. I just don't want it bogged down with clumsy combat mechanics and needlessly obtuse inventory systems.

Swords and fireballs are slow. Guns are fast. Gun combat should be fast paced, it's not like a "you hit me, i hit you" slow sword and board combat you find in fantasy games, is it? Can you see really not see why heavy RPG systems would compliment a game like Dragon Age rather than Mass Effect?

So you want half life 2 or crysis or brothers in arms or brink or homefront or medal of honor or fear those games are already made. Let mass effect have rpg elements it will stand out of the crowd. If you want other fps with story there are lots of them.