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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 17:19:50 GMT
Have they always been addressing the notes to Sara and Scott? I've just noticed this now. Who wants to bet that the next MEA game will have fixed first names, we don't even get to choose them? Because it has to make sense.Lol nah. The thing with the default name is that it can now be said by other characters in the game instead of beinng called Ryder all the time. The reception to this was positive so maybe next time they will add in a set of names you can be called. They are not going to remove that feature to custom name though, since it doesn't affect anything anyways if you do it. I dunno. They removed companion control and choice of weapons for them. They streamlined combat to only three active powers. They did away with paragon and renegade only to have four flavors of the same response. MEA feels very streamlined and more of an action-RPG than an RPG with action elements. It's easier for them to market the main character as Scott and Sara Ryder rather than "the Ryder twins." |
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Post by Scottphoto on May 18, 2017 17:28:13 GMT
Lol nah. The thing with the default name is that it can now be said by other characters in the game instead of beinng called Ryder all the time. The reception to this was positive so maybe next time they will add in a set of names you can be called. They are not going to remove that feature to custom name though, since it doesn't affect anything anyways if you do it. I dunno. They removed companion control and choice of weapons for them. They streamlined combat to only three active powers. They did away with paragon and renegade only to have four flavors of the same response. MEA feels very streamlined and more of an action-RPG than an RPG with action elements. It's easier for them to market the main character as Scott and Sara Ryder rather than "the Ryder twins." Well yes but people have already let them know including critics of these faults, they can't keep all of that happening in future titles. Though some of these had pros on their favor, for example the squadmates help a lot greatly in combat, and I rarely had to revive any like only did like 4 revives of the whole game. The dialogue wheel is subjective, Im personally glad they removed paragon and renegade, i hate that system. However, I do wish they had incorporated something more similar to Inquisition. And I have to disagree on it being less RPG than before, the game feels way more RPG than Mass Effect 3 ever did that felt just going through action set pieces of a movie with barely any role play, customization, etc. |
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2017 23:35:15 GMT
There might be spoilers? I don't really know what to consider a spoiler here...
Too many quotes to post with MEA v DA2 thing, so I will just add my thoughts.
I've been wondering if MEA wasn't partly intended to draw in new players after the MET. I own the MET, and I tried playing ME1. I did the prologue, got to the Citadel and had a grand time exploring it, but it went downhill after I got to the first major planet. Even though I played on casual/easy, I found the combat to be difficult and party management to be cumbersome. I wasn't having fun. I don't want a way to skip combat (I didn't use narrative mode for MEA); I like combat and shooting things in these games, just as I do in Dragon Age. But it still has to be fun for me. I haven't picked up ME1 since that experience. I've heard that ME2 is better, but I dislike the idea of picking up the series on the second game. It's different from Dragon Age in that sense because there is a different protagonist in each game, but that isn't so with Mass Effect.
I thought MEA did a great job of easing me, the newcomer, into the Mass Effect franchise. There were fewer "new" aliens, so I wasn't overwhelmed with a whole bunch of new species (some of the missing ones I'm familiar with from my limited ME1 time, like the hanar and elcor). The combat was done well, was fun, and had customization for myself; I am not bothered in the least that the AI handled the party and in fact I auto-leveled them when it came time to input skill points. The amount of skills versus available skill points meant that, by the end of the game followers had an overflow of points, so in the end it didn't really matter, unlike with DA's skill system, where you are limited and have to choose (which I'm also fine with).
I enjoyed MEA for what it is. But I also enjoyed Dragon Age: Inquisition. I thought MEA did large maps better than DAI because MEA's maps had a clear goal. I also felt that objectives were well-spaced around the map itself, with very little dead space. The tracks and paths were a way to get around the map and provided a route for the player to follow to get to those objectives. The addition of activating the vaults added some dynamism, even though things didn't physically change (that is, the appearance of the environment) other than the increased ability to survive outside.
I also liked the story, the idea of striving to find a home for the Milky Way settlers and running into obstacles along the way. The Archon was somewhat annoying with his obsession, but I thought the kett overall were pretty horrific in their assimilation of alien DNA and their use of exaltation. I think there is potential to explore that further, as was hinted with that final cinematic.
As I've mentioned with DAI, I like the quests that give you an excuse to hang around on these maps and explore.
What I did NOT like were those random side tasks you picked up in various camps that require you to roam around, looking for more such camps, without any nav points to guide you. These amounted to busy work akin to the DAI requisitions. I greatly dislike these and will ignore them in my quest log, unless I happen to luck into completing them.
Where the writing failed for me was with the characters. In the end, it seemed as if most of them relied too much on Ryder for their own sense of self-worth and accomplishment. They don't seem to be independent characters outside of Ryder. This makes them seem less real. If there is one thing you can say about the characters in DAI, regardless of whether you liked them, is that they are all their own people, with their own goals and aspirations outside of the Inquisition and the Inquisitor.
And of course we all know about the romance disparity, which I don't need to rehash for you all.
As for a more abstract issue, I CAN'T STAND the clunky UI. It is my most hated feature of the entire game. Having different menus nested within each other, requiring multiple clicks to go back to the game was so damn irritating. Saving was a chore since we were disallowed a Quick Save button, and reloading was also a chore.
In the end, I liked the game and thought it was worth the money. It doesn't approach DAI for my affection; I am more emotionally invested in the DA franchise and I like fantasy, sword and sorcery, more than a sci-fi shooter. But I will probably end up playing it again as well as buying any story DLC that come along.
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mrslothy
The Beastmaster
Elcor in the Fade
Posts: 639 
Likes: 2,006
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Post by mrslothy on May 19, 2017 10:13:08 GMT
I enjoyed MEA for what it is. But I also enjoyed Dragon Age: Inquisition. I thought MEA did large maps better than DAI because MEA's maps had a clear goal. I also felt that objectives were well-spaced around the map itself, with very little dead space. The tracks and paths were a way to get around the map and provided a route for the player to follow to get to those objectives. The addition of activating the vaults added some dynamism, even though things didn't physically change (that is, the appearance of the environment) other than the increased ability to survive outside. it's a relief to hear this (still holding off my pt of mea). i loved dai's approach to maps and the idea of a main objective and i was hoping they would get the balance better in next game (read:mea). frostback basin was particularly well executed IMO As I've mentioned with DAI, I like the quests that give you an excuse to hang around on these maps and explore. What I did NOT like were those random side tasks you picked up in various camps that require you to roam around, looking for more such camps, without any nav points to guide you. These amounted to busy work akin to the DAI requisitions. I greatly dislike these and will ignore them in my quest log, unless I happen to luck into completing them. i know a lot of players hated it, but i kind of like shards. there are too many of them, absolutely, but when replaying the game i find that they make me go around the map and explore (when replaying i usually have set paths and this helps mitigate it). it also makes sure i don't miss some smaller quests i might have forgotten about. mosaics are interesting in that regard too. there is insane amount of those pieces, but if you explore you eventually find them without really trying. dislike that some are at some locations that are not really special and fall into third tier sidequests- that made no sense really. i do agree requisitions (and i similar type quests) were abhorrent and had no redeeming quality. i have "shut up requisition officer" mod. you just take one requsition per map to activate the quest and then forget the bitch exists, she never bothers you again. i hated her even more than the crow sound in skyhold library -.- all in all, bio seems to be still struggling with finding the right amount of these quests, make them interesting and make them serve some underlying point. Where the writing failed for me was with the characters. In the end, it seemed as if most of them relied too much on Ryder for their own sense of self-worth and accomplishment. They don't seem to be independent characters outside of Ryder. This makes them seem less real. If there is one thing you can say about the characters in DAI, regardless of whether you liked them, is that they are all their own people, with their own goals and aspirations outside of the Inquisition and the Inquisitor. And of course we all know about the romance disparity, which I don't need to rehash for you all. As for a more abstract issue, I CAN'T STAND the clunky UI. It is my most hated feature of the entire game. Having different menus nested within each other, requiring multiple clicks to go back to the game was so damn irritating. Saving was a chore since we were disallowed a Quick Save button, and reloading was also a chore. In the end, I liked the game and thought it was worth the money. It doesn't approach DAI for my affection; I am more emotionally invested in the DA franchise and I like fantasy, sword and sorcery, more than a sci-fi shooter. But I will probably end up playing it again as well as buying any story DLC that come along. don't most issues with ui stem from parallel developing for the consoles? i had this feeling in dai also, one of my bigger complaints there is the confusing, fiddly UI, ecxcessive clicking, etc. i expect these issues will always persist :/ i prefer science fiction setting by a large margin to fantasy, but i have to admit i favor DA franchise by a huge margin. i loved the more mature cast of DAI and precisely what you say, they truly felt like they are their own people, it is absolutely my favourite cast of all three games. it also helps that the lore finally accumulated and came into it's own. now thedas is a rich tapestry of events that make sense, a place of fantastical wonder and potential. sadly, ME franchise never managed to make this "wow, i wonder what the history of the galaxy is, what lies beyond this horizon etc" feeling for me. i feel like da has a sensible interplay of race, politics and characters, while me is is more stylized. i dislike MET focus on military discipline and culture (it's not my kind of thing), i dislike that races that evolved on independent planets act and look almost uniformly human(oid), flimsy political setting, glossing over some interesting problems of exploration, transport, vastness of space etc. simplification it is not a bad thing in itself (da does it too), but i do feel something is missing if there is no nuance in some other aspects. i'm sure this approach coupled with younger cast feel makes for even more naive missteps. but yeah, i'm willing to eventually go for a pt of mea and accept it for what it is. |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 13:35:51 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available.
And I dislike collectibles because they feel so gamey. At the risk of sounding like the BSN, they break muh immersionz. How does my Inquisitor know that she has collected all of the bottles scattered around Southern Thedas? How have these ancient mosaics not already been discovered in the centuries since they were made, and how were they cleanly cut into 12 separate pieces and randomly scattered far away from Tevinter? How does looking through a tranquil's skull allow me to see shards, but then I can leave the map, come back weeks later and I can still see those shards without needing to look through the skull again?
They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO.
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Post by phantomrachie on May 19, 2017 13:52:21 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. And I dislike collectibles because they feel so gamey. At the risk of sounding like the BSN, they break muh immersionz. How does my Inquisitor know that she has collected all of the bottles scattered around Southern Thedas? How have these ancient mosaics not already been discovered in the centuries since they were made, and how were they cleanly cut into 12 separate pieces and randomly scattered far away from Tevinter? How does looking through a tranquil's skull allow me to see shards, but then I can leave the map, come back weeks later and I can still see those shards without needing to look through the skull again? They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. Tasks are separated out because the have less content than the other missions and don't tend to have any decisions or cutscenes or anything but they can't all be dismissed as fetch quests (although at of people do). There are a couple of ones that just involve scanning rocks or plants to help AI scientists, but alot of them start as something that you think will be straightforward and end with some really nice world building or something really cool. I'd be of the opinion that they'd are some of the best-designed quest of this type that Bioware has ever done. |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 13:54:15 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. And I dislike collectibles because they feel so gamey. At the risk of sounding like the BSN, they break muh immersionz. How does my Inquisitor know that she has collected all of the bottles scattered around Southern Thedas? How have these ancient mosaics not already been discovered in the centuries since they were made, and how were they cleanly cut into 12 separate pieces and randomly scattered far away from Tevinter? How does looking through a tranquil's skull allow me to see shards, but then I can leave the map, come back weeks later and I can still see those shards without needing to look through the skull again? They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. Tasks are separated out because the have less content than the other missions and don't tend to have any decisions or cutscenes or anything but they can't all be dismissed as fetch quests (although at of people do). There are a couple of ones that just involve scanning rocks or plants to help AI scientists, but alot of them start as something that you think will be straightforward and end with some really nice world building or something really cool. I'd be of the opinion that they'd are some of the best-designed quest of this type that Bioware has ever done. That is good to hear, then! |
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Post by VFerreira93 on May 19, 2017 13:59:41 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. One quest in particular that gave some mixed feelings (still haven't finished it, tho) is that one in which you have to find these Memory triggers. SAM tells you that you can unlock more of those blockers through your progress as a Pathfinder. However, that's not really the case since all of those triggers seem to be conveniently scattered throughout the map in some strategic spots that provide nice scenarios for the player to take some screenshots. I feel like this could have been handled a lot better, especially with the outcome that this quest has  |
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Post by Scottphoto on May 19, 2017 15:16:21 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. And I dislike collectibles because they feel so gamey. At the risk of sounding like the BSN, they break muh immersionz. How does my Inquisitor know that she has collected all of the bottles scattered around Southern Thedas? How have these ancient mosaics not already been discovered in the centuries since they were made, and how were they cleanly cut into 12 separate pieces and randomly scattered far away from Tevinter? How does looking through a tranquil's skull allow me to see shards, but then I can leave the map, come back weeks later and I can still see those shards without needing to look through the skull again? They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. Tasks are separated out because the have less content than the other missions and don't tend to have any decisions or cutscenes or anything but they can't all be dismissed as fetch quests (although at of people do). There are a couple of ones that just involve scanning rocks or plants to help AI scientists, but alot of them start as something that you think will be straightforward and end with some really nice world building or something really cool. I'd be of the opinion that they'd are some of the best-designed quest of this type that Bioware has ever done. Yeah, there's a lot of interesting quests overall for sure. Doing that one quest on EOS for example that suddenly spawns the architect was awesome. I think the problem overall is that some of these sidequests story content is so good and important, that in some ways should have not been a sidequest per say. Like Sam Memory Triggers and the Water in Eladeen quest. This is why also there's been some criticism on details of the story by critics and such because they likely didn't experience this side quests that really fill in the gaps to a lot of stuff. I didn't mind the tasks per say but I don't like that a couple of them spawn at random locations, and is causing them to glitch on me on Eladeen. I guess it could be an interesting discussion on wether or not insightful story moments should be put in as sidequest to make them interesting but at the expense of not being part of the main quest line. |
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Post by Scottphoto on May 19, 2017 16:27:55 GMT
@vbibbi is okay if you haven't play it and tell what things you have found disappointing from what you seen. I think the marketing was at great fault here too, they didn't do enough proper promotion of the game discussing its designs and decisions to explain why they went that route with some things and how it works. This caused me to have barely any hype for the game before release, ultimately did this end up helping in the long run in surprising me more when I played it. I would say, if the m/m patches are substantial, I would reccomend to give it a try when it lowers on price at least. Bioware games tend to drop on price a lot and pretty fast.
I think what Nightcrawl brings up is interesting, because if its your first Mass Effect experience, it is more likely you'll enjoy better the experience overall. ME1 was a lot more harder to get into, I had to tell my friends to be patient a lot of times lol. My case is similar with Inquisition because it was my first, there's a lot of criticism to the design of that game and such, but for my first taste of the franchise, it felt pretty awesome and made me a fan quick.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 16:53:57 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. One quest in particular that gave some mixed feelings (still haven't finished it, tho) is that one in which you have to find these Memory triggers. SAM tells you that you can unlock more of those blockers through your progress as a Pathfinder. However, that's not really the case since all of those triggers seem to be conveniently scattered throughout the map in some strategic spots that provide nice scenarios for the player to take some screenshots. I feel like this could have been handled a lot better, especially with the outcome that this quest has I think if I were playing I would be annoyed that I have to sift through the tasks to figure out which ones were interesting. Unless it's immediately obvious that the "scan five space rocks" quests don't lead to anything interesting and everything else does. It's one of the comments about DAI which annoyed me, when defenders said "you don't have to do all of the quests if you don't like them!" How am I supposed to know whether I'm getting a Chateau D'Onterre or a Begritte's Claws just from the opening? I have to play through the game first and finish the quests to know if they're worth completing. Some like fade rifts, treasure maps are obvious so I can't begrudge those. But then we even have the Dalish friendship quest where we need to fetch so many random things in order to recruit that one agent. I like the idea of helping out the clan and getting an agent as a result, but wish the tasks they set us were more interesting. @vbibbi is okay if you haven't play it and tell what things you have found disappointing from what you seen. I think the marketing was at great fault here too, they didn't do enough proper promotion of the game discussing its designs and decisions to explain why they went that route with some things and how it works. This caused me to have barely any hype for the game before release, ultimately did this end up helping in the long run in surprising me more when I played it. I would say, if the m/m patches are substantial, I would reccomend to give it a try when it lowers on price at least. Bioware games tend to drop on price a lot and pretty fast. I think what Nightcrawl brings up is interesting, because if its your first Mass Effect experience, it is more likely you'll enjoy better the experience overall. ME1 was a lot more harder to get into, I had to tell my friends to be patient a lot of times lol. My case is similar with Inquisition because it was my first, there's a lot of criticism to the design of that game and such, but for my first taste of the franchise, it felt pretty awesome and made me a fan quick. Thanks, I don't want to be a debby downer and bring the MEA discussion down since I haven't even played it. I don't like the idea of stating some firm opinion about an aspect of the game if it turns out I'm completely wrong and I've gotten it wrong. I did play the entire MET and have played all DA games. I am really not a fan of open worlds, which is why DAI is my least favorite DA game. I prefer to play completionist on Bioware games (because all of their content should be good!) so it's exhausting when I play a large game like DAI and so much of it is busywork. It feels like I had to navigate to the good content (and there is a lot of good content!) and avoid so much filler and dull work to get the best experience in DAI. And in previous Bioware games I have been able to do all of the content and not feel bored by it. I think it's the open world syndrome which I don't like. So even if there are good m/m patches I don't see myself buying MEA because from what I've seen it still suffers from the open world elements I really don't like. And I've disliked a lot of the writing that I've seen, which is another pet peeve. |
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Post by VFerreira93 on May 19, 2017 17:20:37 GMT
Thought it would be interesting to share this video here.
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Post by Scottphoto on May 19, 2017 19:27:13 GMT
Thanks, I don't want to be a debby downer and bring the MEA discussion down since I haven't even played it. I don't like the idea of stating some firm opinion about an aspect of the game if it turns out I'm completely wrong and I've gotten it wrong. I did play the entire MET and have played all DA games. I am really not a fan of open worlds, which is why DAI is my least favorite DA game. I prefer to play completionist on Bioware games (because all of their content should be good!) so it's exhausting when I play a large game like DAI and so much of it is busywork. It feels like I had to navigate to the good content (and there is a lot of good content!) and avoid so much filler and dull work to get the best experience in DAI. And in previous Bioware games I have been able to do all of the content and not feel bored by it. I think it's the open world syndrome which I don't like. So even if there are good m/m patches I don't see myself buying MEA because from what I've seen it still suffers from the open world elements I really don't like. And I've disliked a lot of the writing that I've seen, which is another pet peeve. That's fair, open world is definitely not for everybody specially when they are in much larger scopes now. To me it really depends on how much I like the universe. For example, the new Zelda is a huge open world game and is great overall but I'm not a huge fan of the series that really cares to do all the sidequests for it, so I only did the plot relevant main stuff and finished it. With Mass Effect, I'm quite more invested on the franchise and tried on the sidequests, I was reluctant at first cuz there's many, but for the most part they paid off pretty well and I like the fast travels in this game overall as well. At least on this game all the sidequests are activated through npcs while the less essential "tasks" just trigger randomly as you explore. So for example you checked out a kett camp on the map, and a task suddenly activates. But it's all right because your critic is constructive on the game's design and why its not personally your style, what I personally don't like is those dudes screaming "SJW GAME, THOSE FEMALES WTF" type of comments lol. |
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Lionrage
The Beastmaster
Ginger Cloud Gayzer
Posts: 324
Likes: 1,451
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Post by Lionrage on May 19, 2017 20:01:32 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? Aren't they basically saying "these are fetch quests, we separated them out so you can avoid them"? It sounds good that they're not lumping them all in with interesting quests, but what is even the point of spending time developing these boring tasks? Is it because they're quick and easy to create and provide quick experience for a PC who doesn't want to do a lot of side content? Is it so they can say "MEA has X number of quests in it! Isn't it huge?" I don't get the point of intentionally adding in boring content if there is already interesting content available. And I dislike collectibles because they feel so gamey. At the risk of sounding like the BSN, they break muh immersionz. How does my Inquisitor know that she has collected all of the bottles scattered around Southern Thedas? How have these ancient mosaics not already been discovered in the centuries since they were made, and how were they cleanly cut into 12 separate pieces and randomly scattered far away from Tevinter? How does looking through a tranquil's skull allow me to see shards, but then I can leave the map, come back weeks later and I can still see those shards without needing to look through the skull again? They feel much more like game components than an organic part of the setting. Any time there's a checklist it feels like a game rather than exploration. IMO. Tasks are separated out because the have less content than the other missions and don't tend to have any decisions or cutscenes or anything but they can't all be dismissed as fetch quests (although at of people do). There are a couple of ones that just involve scanning rocks or plants to help AI scientists, but alot of them start as something that you think will be straightforward and end with some really nice world building or something really cool. I'd be of the opinion that they'd are some of the best-designed quest of this type that Bioware has ever done. My biggest problem with the tasks however are that it would have been nice if the pay-off of doing them would have been bigger, especially for tasks such as collecting plants or rock samples. That actually makes sense since they're exploring the cluster, so having some more mundane aspects of exploring added to it kind of fits in the overall theme in my opinion. Collecting flora and fauna from the cluster could for instance be the catalyst to expand Hydroponics aboard the Nexus or visually changes Podromos as colonists install greenhouses. Just enough to remind the player that there actions improves the success of them starting a new life in Andromeda. |
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Post by VFerreira93 on May 19, 2017 20:17:15 GMT
Tasks are separated out because the have less content than the other missions and don't tend to have any decisions or cutscenes or anything but they can't all be dismissed as fetch quests (although at of people do). There are a couple of ones that just involve scanning rocks or plants to help AI scientists, but alot of them start as something that you think will be straightforward and end with some really nice world building or something really cool. I'd be of the opinion that they'd are some of the best-designed quest of this type that Bioware has ever done. My biggest problem with the tasks however are that it would have been nice if the pay-off of doing them would have been bigger, especially for tasks such as collecting plants or rock samples. That actually makes sense since they're exploring the cluster, so having some more mundane aspects of exploring added to it kind of fits in the overall theme in my opinion. Collecting flora and fauna from the cluster could for instance be the catalyst to expand Hydroponics aboard the Nexus or visually changes Podromos as colonists install greenhouses. Just enough to remind the player that there actions improves the success of them starting a new life in Andromeda. There were some concept arts shared by someone who worked on Andromeda and one of those showed something related to the outposts and what you could do with them. And from what I've heard, there was also supposed to be a briefing trailer of said outposts but nothing was ever shown. A lot of great ideas got cut along the way and a few people are excusing it by saying "Oh, they didnt had time". Aside from the budget they got for development, 5 years should be more than enough to fully develop a game. Now when I look back to that Alpha Leak from last year and compare it to what we got on release day, it really does leave something to be desired |
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Lionrage
The Beastmaster
Ginger Cloud Gayzer
Posts: 324
Likes: 1,451
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Post by Lionrage on May 19, 2017 20:22:05 GMT
My biggest problem with the tasks however are that it would have been nice if the pay-off of doing them would have been bigger, especially for tasks such as collecting plants or rock samples. That actually makes sense since they're exploring the cluster, so having some more mundane aspects of exploring added to it kind of fits in the overall theme in my opinion. Collecting flora and fauna from the cluster could for instance be the catalyst to expand Hydroponics aboard the Nexus or visually changes Podromos as colonists install greenhouses. Just enough to remind the player that there actions improves the success of them starting a new life in Andromeda. There were some concept arts shared by someone who worked on Andromeda and one of those showed something related to the outposts and what you could do with them. And from what I've heard, there was also supposed to be a briefing trailer of said outposts but nothing was ever shown. A lot of great ideas got cut along the way and a few people are excusing it by saying "Oh, they didnt have time". Aside from the budget they got for development, 5 years should be more than enough to fully develop a game. Now when I look back to that Alpha Leak from last year and compare it to what we got on release day, it really does leave something to be desired Fully agree, although if they'd somehow add it with a DLC I would actually give them kudos for that if it's well done. When your on the Nexus, there already is a closed door to your left when you leave the Tempest. Another door when you walk further down the hallway near the scientists. I remember that during my first play through I was waiting for something to happen that would cause them to open up. Unfortunately nothing happened, but the way that has been designed does make me suspicious that they will add something to the Nexus in future patches/dlc('s). |
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Post by VFerreira93 on May 19, 2017 20:37:58 GMT
There were some concept arts shared by someone who worked on Andromeda and one of those showed something related to the outposts and what you could do with them. And from what I've heard, there was also supposed to be a briefing trailer of said outposts but nothing was ever shown. A lot of great ideas got cut along the way and a few people are excusing it by saying "Oh, they didnt have time". Aside from the budget they got for development, 5 years should be more than enough to fully develop a game. Now when I look back to that Alpha Leak from last year and compare it to what we got on release day, it really does leave something to be desired Fully agree, although if they'd somehow add it with a DLC I would actually give them kudos for that if it's well done. When your on the Nexus, there already is a closed door to your left when you leave the Tempest. Another door when you walk further down the hallway near the scientists. I remember that during my first play through I was waiting for something to happen that would cause them to open up. Unfortunately nothing happened, but the way that has been designed does my me suspicions that they will add something to the Nexus in future patches/dlc('s). I mean, wasnt the Nexus supposed to unlock some blocked areas when you "upgrade" its level or something like that? I remember the devs talking about that on a panel. And also, Meridian (from what I've heard) was supposed to have a much bigger map and such - along with quests and everything in between. Is that one true? Never reached that part of the game, but I've heard it mentioned just before I stopped playing Andromeda. Let's see... There's still 2 novels to be published: Annihilation & Initiation. We know so far that the first one is supposed to be about the Lost Ark. The last one - which I'm prolly more interested to read - is yet to be known. So, based on my assumption, and take this with a grain of salt (  ) I'd say there's going to be at least 2 DLCs down the road. One for the Quarians is almost guaranted to happen. It'd be great to see more additions to either the Nexus or even the outposts themselves but I guess that waiting for more news/updates on this is pretty much all we can do at this point  |
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mrslothy
The Beastmaster
Elcor in the Fade
Posts: 639
Likes: 2,006
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Post by mrslothy on May 19, 2017 23:28:57 GMT
I mean, wasnt the Nexus supposed to unlock some blocked areas when you "upgrade" its level or something like that? I remember the devs talking about that on a panel. And also, Meridian (from what I've heard) was supposed to have a much bigger map and such - along with quests and everything in between. Is that one true? Never reached that part of the game, but I've heard it mentioned just before I stopped playing Andromeda. Let's see... There's still 2 novels to be published: Annihilation & Initiation. We know so far that the first one is supposed to be about the Lost Ark. The last one - which I'm prolly more interested to read - is yet to be known. So, based on my assumption, and take this with a grain of salt ( ) I'd say there's going to be at least 2 DLCs down the road. One for the Quarians is almost guaranted to happen. It'd be great to see more additions to either the Nexus or even the outposts themselves but I guess that waiting for more news/updates on this is pretty much all we can do at this point did MET also have novels published? i'm curious if they did any worldbuilding with that. i expect the supposed movie to be a total crap. and btw, even if ea puts ME on hold, i'm VERY sure we will at least get a remastered me trilogy sometime in the next 5 years. no way ea would let a chance like that slide. |
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Post by VFerreira93 on May 19, 2017 23:42:27 GMT
I mean, wasnt the Nexus supposed to unlock some blocked areas when you "upgrade" its level or something like that? I remember the devs talking about that on a panel. And also, Meridian (from what I've heard) was supposed to have a much bigger map and such - along with quests and everything in between. Is that one true? Never reached that part of the game, but I've heard it mentioned just before I stopped playing Andromeda. Let's see... There's still 2 novels to be published: Annihilation & Initiation. We know so far that the first one is supposed to be about the Lost Ark. The last one - which I'm prolly more interested to read - is yet to be known. So, based on my assumption, and take this with a grain of salt ( ) I'd say there's going to be at least 2 DLCs down the road. One for the Quarians is almost guaranted to happen. It'd be great to see more additions to either the Nexus or even the outposts themselves but I guess that waiting for more news/updates on this is pretty much all we can do at this point did MET also have novels published? i'm curious if they did any worldbuilding with that. i expect the supposed movie to be a total crap. and btw, even if ea puts ME on hold, i'm VERY sure we will at least get a remastered me trilogy sometime in the next 5 years. no way ea would let a chance like that slide. The OT has at least 4 novels and one of those is not considered canon anymore since Bioware has confirmed it a few years ago. It's a possiblity but I don't know if they're that keen on going back to Mass Effect - even if it's just a remaster |
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2017 23:45:52 GMT
I'm curious about the quests in MEA. If they were divided into main plot, planets, characters, and tasks, wtf was the point of tasks? To be annoying. Actually, I'm just joking. As phantomrachie said, there are some good ones, and a variety of types. They aren't all collectibles. I don't lump all task quests together, my main hated ones are those random ones that don't provide any nav points, which seem designed to have the player drive around and around (and around...), just looking for these random bits. Another point of my annoyance comes from the fact that, in the quest journal, all tasks are listed together under Tasks, regardless of what planet they are based on. This makes sense for tasks that are not specific-planet-based, like one to scan new mineral deposits that you find pretty much everywhere. But others are localized to certain planets, like scanning dead bodies (for identification and retrieval) on Eos; that is an Eos task, but it's not listed under Eos, and instead with all of the other tasks. By the end of the game, the task listing is quite large, and the descriptions are sometimes vague, so you have to remember that a particular one is bound to a certain planet. That is a combination of quest and UI design to just make it terrible. The DAI quest journal design is far superior in that sense. There are task-type things on certain maps, and they are listed on those maps, while collectibles get their own tab. That's what all of those pockets and pouches are for on the armors, to hold the copious lists the Inquisitor constantly checks while roaming around. |
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) I'd say there's going to be at least 2 DLCs down the road. One for the Quarians is almost guaranted to happen. It'd be great to see more additions to either the Nexus or even the outposts themselves but I guess that waiting for more news/updates on this is pretty much all we can do at this point 
Much love right back at ya!
