Official Thread Mass Effect: Andromeda

Rate Mass Effect Andromeda

  • 5/5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4/5

    Votes: 5 26.3%
  • 3/5

    Votes: 12 63.2%
  • 2/5

    Votes: 2 10.5%
  • 1/5 My face is tired

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    19
Delaying a game are sometimes not an option, especially when there are locked in contracts and shareholder expectations. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the business.

And like other huge, big budget games, they probably had a laundry list of things that needed fixing, and they had to prioritize the ones that broke the game.
And unfortunately, that's the corner game development backs themselves into. Even the big guns like EA have to churn stuff out even if something isn't ready because every product the sell is still a sizable chunk of sales.

At every company I've worked at, we have so many skus, we always cancel probably 10-15 products out of the initial strategy of 50 new items. And then we have legacy sales of existing products that sells for 10 years. So nobody really cares about dropping some duds before it releases. But gaming is such a day one launch sales strategy, you have to swing for the fences at the first at bat.

I understand that but it seems to me that some of the larger game corporations despite shareholders can afford to delay games until its in a polished state. Case in point is Nintendo. Breath of the Wild was darn near delayed a whole console generation but was worth it due the critical and more importantly financial success it has become. But Nintendo rolls to beat of its own drum so they may be the exception. More to your point, if ME:A proves to be a commercial success in EA's eyes despite its problems, I fully expect to see more of the same from Bioware in the future where it relates to ship then fix.
Then again this is why I am an armchair analyst and not on any company's payroll.
Some companies force themselves to churn out annual crap. And some like EA releasing ME:A in a sorry state shows they had to release it. Even though 360 ME games were clunky due to the hardware limitations, there's no way I saw that many bugs and glitches in those 8 year old games.

However, some large studios baked into corporations like id, Blizzard and Bethesda never seem to have make or break deadlines. If EA was in charge of these studio's franchises, I'm sure we'd already be up to Doom 9 and Diablo 11.
 
I'm glad they're going back and fixing the game but in all honesty it shouldn't have shipped in this state.
What state? Sure, it has some bugs, but what game doesn't.

I am enjoying it and find it no worse than most games in genre.
 
Anyone else notice that almost all of the asari besides Peebee look exactly the same. They might throw in a scar or something here and there but there facial structure is identical. Seems lazy.
 
What state? Sure, it has some bugs, but what game doesn't.

I am enjoying it and find it no worse than most games in genre.

I've had broken cutscenes, missions/email/codex giving away spoilers for events or people I haven't met yet, friendly NPCs getting stuck, enemies getting stuck in places where you can't shoot or attack them ( thus restart), Ryder getting stuck in a jump animation, falling through the stage after fast traveling, and that's just off the top of my head. I'm glad you've not hit many but I've hit almost every one possible. And that's just technical issues not design issues.
 
I've had broken cutscenes, missions/email/codex giving away spoilers for events or people I haven't met yet, friendly NPCs getting stuck, enemies getting stuck in places where you can't shoot or attack them ( thus restart), Ryder getting stuck in a jump animation, falling through the stage after fast traveling, and that's just off the top of my head. I'm glad you've not hit many but I've hit almost every one possible. And that's just technical issues not design issues.

Wow. I have had a few small problems but nothing like that. One mission on Eos where you fight a boss seems to be bugged for me frequently so I haven't beaten it yet other than the odd disconnect and or frame drops it hasn't been as bad as you have gotten.
 
I've had broken cutscenes, missions/email/codex giving away spoilers for events or people I haven't met yet, friendly NPCs getting stuck, enemies getting stuck in places where you can't shoot or attack them ( thus restart), Ryder getting stuck in a jump animation, falling through the stage after fast traveling, and that's just off the top of my head. I'm glad you've not hit many but I've hit almost every one possible. And that's just technical issues not design issues.

Same. Add random crashing and freezing.
 
I changed from being adept to being sentinel. I'm using singularity, incinerate, and energy drain.
My whole setup is for high DPS. So my tech and biotic is setup with primer and detonation.
Now I feel all OP.
As far as bugs and stuff, I've ran into a few of them. No more than I ran into with Skyrim. It can be frustrating for sure but I'm still enjoying the game.
 
Short eye shader comparison vid I put up:

Statement:
https://www.masseffect.com/news/the-...d?sf53509845=1

Hi everyone,

It’s been two weeks since the launch of Mass Effect™: Andromeda and we’re thankful to the millions of you who have already joined us on this journey. And though the game is now in your hands, it’s really just the beginning.

Since launch, our team has been poring over your comments and feedback, looking to discover what you like about the game, as well as areas we can evolve or improve.

This Thursday, we’ll release a new patch that addresses technical fixes (crashes, improved performance), but also adds a number of improvements we’ve heard you ask for, such as:

Allowing you to skip ahead when travelling between planets in the galaxy map
Increasing the inventory limits
Improving the appearance of eyes for humans and asari characters
Decreasing the cost of remnant decryption keys and making them more accessible at merchants
Improving localized voice over lip sync
Fixing Ryder’s movements when running in a zig zag pattern
Improving matchmaking and latency in multiplayer

Over the next two months we’ll be rolling out additional patches which will go even deeper and look to improve several areas of the game:

More options and variety in the character creator
Improvements to hair and general appearance for characters
Ongoing improvements to cinematic scenes and animations
Improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder
Adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams

These upcoming patches will also address performance and stability issues. And we’re looking at adding more cosmetic items to single player for free.

For multiplayer, over the same timeframe, we’re going to continue to build on the APEX missions that have been running since launch. We’ll be adding new maps, characters, and weapons. On Thursday, we kick off the first of three new chapters centered around The Remnant Investigation.

This is just a taste of what’s in store as we continue to support Mass Effect: Andromeda. And as always, you all play an important role in that. We want to hear from you about your experiences, both what you love about the game and what you’d like to see changed. We’re listening, and we’re committed to partnering with you as we continue to explore the Andromeda galaxy together.

Here’s to a great journey,

Aaryn


Patch notes:
http://blog.bioware.com/2017/04/04/m...ch-1-05-notes/
In the new patch (1.05) for Mass Effect: Andromeda, our focus was on bug fixes and improvements to the player experience.

We’ve introduced a number of balance changes to single player and multiplayer, and resolved some issues with saves not working properly. We’ve also improved lip-sync and facial acting during some conversations, and have implemented a much-requested change that allows players to skip the autopilot sequences in the galaxy map.

We’ll continue to listen to your feedback, and we thank you for working with us to create an even better Mass Effect: Andromeda experience.

Patch 1.05 Notes

Improved tutorial placement

Single player balance changes: Ammo crates, armor, weapons, nomad, profiles, attacks, and progression

Multiplayer balance changes: Weapons, cover, and enemies (check back for detailed notes on balance changes)

Added option to skip autopilot sequences in the galaxy map

Improved logic, timing, and continuity for relationships and story arcs

Improved lip-sync and facial acting during conversations, including localized VO

Fixed various collision issues

Fixed bugs where music or VO wouldn’t play or wasn’t correct

Fixed issue where global squad mate banter sometimes wasn’t firing on UNCs

Fixed issue where player was unable to access the Remnant Console Interface after failing decryption multiple times

Fixed issue where fast travel is sometimes disabled after recruiting Drack until the player reloads a save

Fixed issue where Ryder can become stuck in the start of Biotic Charge Pose

Fixes issues related to some saves

Fixed issue where objective sometimes becomes un-interactable for players in multiplayer

Streaming and stability improvements
 
Is anyone else just having a hard time really getting into this game? it doesn't seem to do anything all that well IMO. I found the last Dragon Age game to be a lot more fun than this and that game found a way to make riding a horse boring lol.
 
Is anyone else just having a hard time really getting into this game? it doesn't seem to do anything all that well IMO. I found the last Dragon Age game to be a lot more fun than this and that game found a way to make riding a horse boring lol.

Not at all. In fact it's the opposite for me. The more I play the more I'm enjoying it.
 
I've had broken cutscenes, missions/email/codex giving away spoilers for events or people I haven't met yet, friendly NPCs getting stuck, enemies getting stuck in places where you can't shoot or attack them ( thus restart), Ryder getting stuck in a jump animation, falling through the stage after fast traveling, and that's just off the top of my head. I'm glad you've not hit many but I've hit almost every one possible. And that's just technical issues not design issues.

So, basically, all the same stuff found in other RPGs. ME1 & 2 had these issues. Fallout has them and worse. Witcher 3 has many of these issues.

Like I said, it is no worse than most, and like most it would appear experiences differ.
 
Is anyone else just having a hard time really getting into this game? it doesn't seem to do anything all that well IMO. I found the last Dragon Age game to be a lot more fun than this and that game found a way to make riding a horse boring lol.
The more I play it the more I'm getting into it.
 
What were they thinking with the zoning for the eye shadow though? You only shadow above the socket line if you're moving the brow bone with make up, after you've glued your eyebrows down!

The insanity!

Any who, thank god they're including the ability to skip planet jumping animations. At the start of a play session, I really enjoy them and try to take in their beauty, because they really are stunning...

Two hours later, however, hurry the f*** up!

I haven't had any tech issues, but if I play the game without a fresh restart of my PC, it can sometimes stall for a second when I scan something.
 
I loved the story ark with Reyes. It was so fun and scandalous!

The quest to unlock Peebee's powers was infuriating.
 
Hopefully they add it so you can just board the tempest rather than watch the take off video every time
 
Just finished this last night. Gets a 7/10 from me. It's an average game in my opinion and the story just wasn't interesting.

Can't believe I'm saying it about a ME game but you would have to pay me to do a second playthrough.
 
Looks like ME dev is feeling down at the criticism the game has received.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mass-effec...n-hard-take-criticism-biowares-latest-1616874

Mass Effect Andromeda lead says it's been 'hard' to take criticism of BioWare's latest
BioWare's Ian Frazier speaks to IBTimes UK about negative feedback and fan interaction.
Mass Effect Andromeda's lead designer Ian Frazier has spoken to IBTimes UK about the negative response to some elements of the sci-fi sequel that hit shelves toward the end of March.

Released in March, Andromeda was criticised for some strange animations, its lip-syncing and other bugs and quirks. The issues have since been addressed in a patch, but for some time these singled-out elements dominated discussion of the game among fans.

We asked Frazier about criticisms and how it's affected BioWare's post-launch plans for the game. His comments were part of a larger interview you can read here. Frazier also spoke to us about an early version of Andromeda that was a "giant procedural game".

"Our intent was to always be flexible because you don't know how fans are going to react," he explained. "You don't know what they're going to get super-attached to, positively or negatively. So we went in thinking 'here's some stuff we're definitely going to do, and then here's some stuff we might do, maybe, let's see how the fans react'.

"So to a large extent I think things are sort of on track, with regards to post-launch plans. Obviously the particulars change, but the overall timetable doesn't."

But what of his own take on the negative feedback, or that of his team?

"As far as my personal reaction. I won't speak for the other guys, but I spent quite a bit of my time on Twitter and various forums and such. And I won't lie, it's hard. It's hard to see the criticisms, some of the challenges that are out there.

"It's difficult because we do want to help, so you're out on Twitter and forums and stuff trying to troubleshoot issues or give people a hint on something they're struggling with. But to do that, to help the fans and try to absorb the feedback to better steer what we do next, you have to wade through a lot of crap. And that part is not a lot of fun."

Despite the ill-effects of such a proximity to the fans when things are heated, Frazier still appreciates the ability to talk directly to the people playing his games.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't enjoy the occasional gut punch, but on balance I think it's really valuable that things have gone this way. Our ability to get feedback from fans on such a broad spectrum is great.

"For example, we used to rely heavily on our forums, but now we've got several channels of information coming in. You just get a much larger pool, because when you're limiting it to one channel or two, it self-selects to an extent. You're only going to get feedback from people who'll take the time to become a member of that forum, or what have you. It's been nice having a broad assortment of people give us feedback – good and bad – through channels like Twitter and Facebook."

Mass Effect Andromeda released in late March to positive reviews. While it did review more poorly than the original trilogy of Xbox 360 and PS3, it was still a good game. You can read IBTimes UK'sreview here.
 
Hopefully they add it so you can just board the tempest rather than watch the take off video every time
Yeah that kills me!

I hate it when you're in the Nexus, then they need you to chat on the tempest, before going back to the Nexus! Oh, and then you have to read your email! Gah!

And then your mission gets put on hold for 10 minutes, and then you repeat the process!

In saying that, I'm still loving the game. Its exactly what I was expecting, but the mobility really adds to the experience. Dreck's chatter while he is in group is awesome too.
 
In saying that, I'm still loving the game. Its exactly what I was expecting, but the mobility really adds to the experience. Dreck's chatter while he is in group is awesome too.

I'm still not tremendously far in, but I have to say that having Drack and Peebee together for a while was quite entertaining. I'm actually giving short shrift right now to Vetra and Liam because I've had loyalty mission stuff going on recently with Cora and some mandatory missions with Jaal, so they've mixed in and it's been good too.
 
Someone did some ME photoshop. Looks much better. Amazing when everyday joes can do better art than the dev itself.

All those crazy good mods for Bethesda and R* games have an even bigger gap in quality.

The images on the left look like last gen character models. Zombie eyeballs in 2007.... fast forward to 2017...... yep, zombie eyeballs still there!

http://www.growngaming.com/awesome/mass-effect-andromeda-photoshop/

andromedaphotoshop1.jpg


andromedaphotoshop2.jpg
 
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This game looks good as an EA Access title. I'll wait till I'd say about Q1 2018 for this game to be a freebie. Most EA Access games come out 9-12 months after launch.

Game has been getting reviews in the mid-70s, whereas ME 1 - ME 3 got about 90% or so each. There's definitely more than just some bad animations and zombie eyeballs dragging the game down 15 pts.

On the plus side, by the time the game comes to EA Access, it'll probably be patched a few times and have free DLC too.
 
Yeah, I kind of think there was a reason Peebee's was designed to look more child-like with rounded features. It reflects her story line and personality.
 
Photoshop =/= making a 3d model work in every situation presented.

And cmon, the peebee edit is nearly as bad as people complaining about faith from mirrors edge. same s***, photoshop to make them more attractive. Is every woman you know a bombshell? female characters can be designed without needing to turn people on.

this kind of bs runs me up a wall