Mass Effect General Discussion (spoilers)

I'm just thinking that by time this game comes out, EA has switched using AI to make game covers

...Yeah, its completely unrelated to teaser, but there is nothing really to think about the teaser

A single jpeg? As I recall, it was a whole panning shot over a nondescript landscape

[an elder scrolls fan enters the topic]

milk drinkers I hope you take an arrow to the knee!

[hurriedly flees]

But that's the problem. We've gotten nothing but *that* for every year since the game was announced. "Don't worry, we're working on it" means nothing after the third or fourth consecutive time.

Stop fucking reminding me every year and get it the fuck done. I realize that these two things aren't contradictory; it's not like throwing together a teaser inherently disrupts production in anyway, but reminding me every year that we're still at a "It's coming" or "Soon TM" stage just highlights how long it's taking.

I'll cite that, while there are certainly games that have taken much much longer to come out, they also didn't regularly remind us about how long they were taking.

While Kingdom Hearts 3 took fucking forever, the franchise was still regularly releasing games during that period. The exhausting part was when KH 3 was officially "announced" and then went dark for, like, 5 years, but at least we got games and installments to enjoy. And KH 3 itself didn't announce "It's coming" for every subsequent year; only the rabid fans asking for updates were doing that as to be expected.

On the opposite end, the wait for the next games for GTA or Elder Scrolls has been exhausting because both franchises keep milking their previous games for all they're worth over and over and over again. GTA 5 is going on over a decade of updates for it's Online mode. Skyrim has been re-released a dozen or more times across, what? 3 generations of consoles with virtually no actual differences between them?

On a further third end, Alan Wake came out in 2010 and didn't get a sequel until this year. It wasn't in development for 10 years, granted, but they also didn't keep going "It's coming. Get hype" for that entire time.

This feels like a child washing the dishes who keeps announcing that they're washing the dishes; the chore is getting done I guess, but stop saying it over and over again and I'll give a shit when it's actually done.

I'm not trying to be... angry, I guess? It's not worth it. But I am kinda exhausted and frustrated and burned out by the constant stream of "hype announcement" content we are continuously fed that doesn't actually do anything to generate hype. These kinds of announcements are not for fans. They're to please investors who feel nervous that no announcements are being made while other games are coming out. Hence a nothing-burger.

And it's fucking exhausting.

I mean...

• The next big Bioware release will be Dragon Age 4
• The last ME game was a trainwreck due in part to a chaotic and rushed development
• There has been 50 layoffs in August in the company

If it was a healthy, in-its-prime studio giving us such breadcrumbs for their next big project, then yeah I would be angry. But what this show me is that they haven't buried the franchise forever and that we might see a next entry. And I'd rather have a good game in 2028 that is successful enough to revive the franchise, than a bad one that makes them bankrupt in 2025.

Plus, like, it was N7 Day. They didn't call a press conference, or added it to a flurry of EA announcements, it's just a standard social media post on a significant date to remind everyone that they're working on a franchise whose last good entry is 11 years old.

Edited by Bexlerfu on Nov 8th 2023 at 2:21:11 PM

Andromeda was a solid entry, frankly.

Andromeda was flawed, certainly, but it was a fun game. Its main problems were the obvious result of rushed development and a studio unfamiliar with the engine they were using. A lot of the levels were too empty or too samey, gunplay didn't always feel right, that sort of thing. The story could have used a bit more polish, but overall there were plenty of interesting characters to latch onto, which has always been Bioware's biggest strength.

The biggest sign of how little faith the studio had in Andromeda, though, was the part where they canceled the DLC. The game sold well, but people on the internet complained so they canned all future developments.

Been a long time since I played it, but my recollection is that they somehow messed up the story/questline gating/interaction, so my tendency to play through all available material for each bit meant that things didn't link up properly and I was getting references that made no sense for what I'd seen.

Andromeda is a decent game, but it's a decent game in a fantastic franchise.

It's also a decent game that was made obsolete before it was even released by The Witcher 3 and the quality standards it brought to open-world RPG.

It's not bad, but it was deeply missing in charm. And for me, having a new galaxy with one new alien species to interact with is a cardinal sin. Going to a new galaxy only to interact with basically the same species...what's the point? Stay in the Milky Way if you want for us to chat with asari and krogan, no need for intergalactic travel.

Plus it really felt rushed. You had some excellent pieces of writing here and there, linked together by the most bland things imaginable because, in all likelihood, they gave up trying to find new ideas and went to the box of generics. If everything was as interesting as the prologue or ...don't remember his name, but male human squadmate's loyalty mission, then it would be perfectly fine. Alas.

After playing Baldur's Gate 3 for hundreds of hours, I kinda wanted ME cast in a CRPG style of gameplay.

Considering that this was released on N7 Day and is more or less an annual thing also has me worried. Is this what we can expect of the next ME game? Teasers that are barely anything, don't hint at anything or give an idea of development progress, released annually? How long is this going to go on? And with how people are, I'm sorry to say but I feel like I'm being force-fed mere crumbs while being told to act like its a banquet.

All we have are vague code readouts, binary teases, a space station, someone in a coat and a poster with clothed Geth, but nothing hinting at what the game is about, where and whe its set, who's in it or a vague release window. And after this its going to once more be absolute radio silence until next year unless they realize they should, you know, develop the game. And people can say "Rome wasn't built in a day" like a mantra all they want but, you know, Rome was built.

EDIT: And also there's others trying to deflect complaints by pointing out TES 6 being a nothing burger. I wasn't talking about that and didn't ask for a textbook whataboutism but thanks I guess.

Edited by MightyKombat on Nov 9th 2023 at 12:10:24 PM

Tbf it just being a teaser makes sense. As they won't be able to develop it till dragon age Is done. Which is why I'm confused why they released it so early. A reminder that their still going to do it

...has there been anyone who got the party started on a "YOOHOO LET'S DISSECT THOSE THIRTY SECONDS FRAME BY FRAME I AM SO PUMPED!!!" in here?

Like, it's N7 Day, there's a very small teaser, the point is not from now on to focus all of our hype and attention on this franchise, unless I missed something;

It seems that the whole VG industry revolves so much around hype building nowadays that any content has to be treated like it is designed to fight for our immediate attention. Again, Mass Effect is not Bioware's next big project, that would be Dragon Age 4. And today BW is not big enough to have the resources to fully develop two AAA games at the same time.

Reminder: 50 layoffs two months ago. That's roughly 10% of their employees if Wikipedia is to be believed. I don't see how after that we can in any way ask for some significant content on a game that's not even the company's focus at the moment.

Edited by Bexlerfu on Nov 9th 2023 at 10:31:43 AM

I mean official posts by Bioware and its higherups have been pure-tungsten-handedly hinting at the existence of an ARG that fans "haven't discovered" so it's safe to say they're trying to build hype of some variety.

Case in point, their official announcement for it on Steam (via Legendary Edition's "news" updates) included a bunch of really obvious ones and zeroes inserted into random words that I assume can be arranged into some secret binary code that leads into a small puzzle that I'm sure they want us treat like some megahype buildup to an incoming announcement.

But after several years of nothingburger teasers and knowing that they're still mid-development on an entirely different game and likely haven't even properly started work on the next ME aside from concept art and models for pre-rendered teasers, it's hard to be excited by these little hints. Like, I'm fully expecting this to result in some cryptic string of text that essentially tells us nothing other than "get hype for NEXT YEAR when we'll give you ANOTHER tiny corner piece of this room-sized jigsaw puzzle!"

And yes, I know it's stupid; honestly the only reason it's so annoying to me is that it's sort of halfway working on me; I'm over here putting those ones and zeroes together because I'm that desperate to believe these yearly teasers finally have actual substance to them. Like, it'd be significantly less frustrating if they just didn't tease us and instead just gave us a "don't worry, we're doing it after the next game! [pretty concept art]" and left it at that.

UPDATE: The binary just gives you a word that's supposed to lead you to that countdown page with an Andromeda reference I already mentioned. Except they screwed it up; it's supposed to be "epsilon" but they didn't include enough binary for the N so it's just "epsilo"

Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Nov 9th 2023 at 3:12:37 AM

Exactly.

Like, look, I know the pizza is in the oven. I will be happy when the pizza comes out of the oven. Please let me know when the pizza is cooling off and I'm almost able to enjoy it.

Stop informing me. "Hey, maybe there'll be pepperoni on this pizza" every five minutes and expecting my mouth to be watering and staying watered.

Stop trying to build hype when you do not have anything to actually build hype over. Shouting the word hype into the either is going to get people screaming "Shut Up".

Honestly?

I'd rather, once a year, be reminded of that franchise because they post a couple of new fanarts or random minigames that hint they are still working on a sequel, than to get episode 125 of "Are Cerberus really evil?" or the 723th debate "Geth/Quarians were right".

Once a year is rare enough. If they were using every conference to give us those breadcrumbs that go nowhere, it would be annoying, but I don't think they're doing this.

Edited by Bexlerfu on Nov 9th 2023 at 12:21:40 PM

Are we upset that the teaser is too much of a tease?

These teasers are essentially Bio Ware saying to the fans, "Hey, we're still thinking of you, we appreciate you continuing to be so interested in this franchise, here's a quick thing for you. I see nothing wrong with that, myself. There's no need to get hyped over it. Just, like, "oh, cool design, and hey, a geth wearing clothes, neat." Maybe get people to replay the trilogy.

Also kinda scummy to sell the poster of a teaser.

Wh…why?

How is it different than any other art they turn into a poster or other piece of merch? “Hey, here’s a new piece of artwork. You can buy a print if you want one” is like…basic merch practice?

EDIT: And like, if merch isn’t your thing, that’s whatever. But they idea that they’re “scummy” for the act of making poster that you don’t have to buy if you don’t want it out of a piece of new artwork is…weird.

Edited by BadWolf21 on Nov 10th 2023 at 8:18:13 AM

Seriously, I'm not bothered at all because I didn't expect anything of a teaser. That it revealed 1) the game still exists and 2) they aren't committing to Destroy's idiotic eliminating of the Geth and EDI was enough for me.

It's fine to want more but come on, it's not that big a deal.

Exactly this.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Nov 10th 2023 at 7:58:49 AM

I dunno, just rubs me off the wrong way. It'd be like if Nintendo sold essentially a poster of just Metroid Prime 4 text.

YMMV.Mass Effect 2

• Strawman Has a Point: When you learn the full history of the Geth-Quarian conflict, the narrative always tries to establish the Geth as the aggrieved party, with Tali's snide comment about Legion being one of the friendly Geth that drove her people from their homeworld being presented as irrational and petty. However, the Geth turned the Quarians from an interstellar civilization with billions of people to wandering nomads with less than ten million at the time, something that would require systematic efforts at extermination to achieve long after the Quarians would have been broken as a military power, and something neither Legion nor the Geth acknowledge, only ever claiming self-defence.

Besides more belonging under 3 (which gave the full backstory) or the series main, I have other questions about this validity. One hand 2 and 3 established the quarian did suffer Detrimental Determination over this matter it would explain them irrationally continuing to fight to the point the geth would be forced to kill so many. Other hand this does raise valid Fridge Logic over such extreme casualties being necessary to stop their threat or that 99% of them would be so opposed they even refuse surrender. Thoughts? Maybe this fits something else better?

Yeah, the Geth committed genocide and the story keeps trying to paper over that.

There's very little separating the Cylons and Kaylon from the Geth. That doesn't mean the Geth are suddenly villains but the narrative is distinctly slanted.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Nov 19th 2023 at 2:38:18 AM

I think it would fit better under Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale ?or an Artistic License - something trope.

I feel like this isn't a result of a strawman that has too good an argument but a writer not fully understanding the scale/reality of what they've written.

In-universe, It's supposed to be true that the Geth only acted in self-defense and the quarians genocided themselves with an Attack! Attack! Attack! mentality people are disputing it from Fridge Logic that in reality in couldn't work like that.

Edited by dcutter2 on Nov 19th 2023 at 11:20:37 AM