Mass Effect 3

[krycek 349]

And seriously, what's with the demonizing? How is offering DLC a "disgusting business practice"? EA is a for-profit company that's trying to maximize its profit by using a business model that involves DLC. Bohemia Interactive is another company that fits that description. I don't see the problem. If you really hate DLC, don't buy it.

Optional content my ass,90% it's cut content to make an easy buck.Except very few devs,almost all DLC content it's cut from the original.

It's a disgusting business practice because before we had add-ons,that was additional content.Devs added value to their games by making entire new areas,campaigns and so on.Now if it isn't cut from original then they add silly stuff like new skins,a map,maybe a pistol and other pointless crap.It's easy and lazy,why bother with quality optional content when they get easy money this way.Add-ons went the way of the dodo since consoles started to promote DLC.

[Sniperwolf572 758]

Count me among the blamed, then. I don't see the problem with day-one DLC. The price for just about every AAA video game has been $60 for many years now; everything else has been going up in price while the price of games has stagnated. They're past due for a price increase, and I for one am glad that the increase is coming in the form of optional content rather than simply being tacked on.

And seriously, what's with the demonizing? How is offering DLC a "disgusting business practice"? EA is a for-profit company that's trying to maximize its profit by using a business model that involves DLC. Bohemia Interactive is another company that fits that description. I don't see the problem. If you really hate DLC, don't buy it.

If we assume a base price of 50 euros, I'd agree with you if the prices of the base game dropped by the same amount a day 1 DLC costs. Unfortunatley, that's not the case with ME3 or any other game out there with such content.

On an more on topic note, I've been playing the first two parts in preparation for the third. Demo disappointed me a bit with the sound and texture quality (Hopefully it's because of the demo size considerations). Some animations were a bit off-putting and I'm baffled at the choice to make the enemy health/protection bars so low key. In ME2 they hit the sweet spot as I could tell the status of an enemy purely by peripheral vision as the bars were big, contrasted and bright, while in the demo I had to glue my eyes to the top just to see what's going on.

[st_dux 26]

Maybe when you can't even afford games because it will effectively cost you hundreds of dollars to play, you'll understand why we should not support this kind of practice.

This is a ludicrous slippery slope argument. Games won't be costing hundreds of dollars anytime soon because no one would buy them if they did. A $10 optional DLC on release is not indicative of a an impending massive price increase, and as I said before, it's really about time for a small price increase. We can't expect games to stay $60 forever as long as inflation is a reality.

Please don't try to use that ' they are a business and they have to make money' nonsense either, it's a really weak argument. There is no shortage of revenue generation where EA is concerned, Origin is a prime example of their unmitigated greed.

EA is a for-profit company. They have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize their profits; it would be irresponsible for them to intentionally ignore the profit that can be gained through DLC. You might not like this, but it is an essential feature of capitalism.

Optional content my ass,90% it's cut content to make an easy buck.Except very few devs,almost all DLC content it's cut from the original.

The content is still being made optional regardless of whether it was developed before or after the decision to make it DLC. Would you rather it be included with the "original game" and made mandatory (along with its $10 price tag)? This whole idea that the game developer somehow owes you whatever content was developed before the game is released -- regardless of the quantity of that content -- for the arbitrary set price of $60 (for a AAA title) is ridiculous. If the DLC were exactly the same but released a few months later, how would that be any better? How is offering day-one DLC fundamentally any different from game developers charging the same amount of money for games of varying levels of content?

If you're really having an ethical crisis over supporting day-one DLC, I recommend simply pretending that the content doesn't exist. After all, if ME3 were released exactly as is without the optional DLC, I'm sure that no one would feel that it was lacking in content for its $60 price tag. The only reason you feel entitled to the DLC content is because you know that it exists.

If we assume a base price of 50 euros, I'd agree with you if the prices of the base game dropped by the same amount a day 1 DLC costs. Unfortunatley, that's not the case with ME3 or any other game out there with such content.

Then the price would effectively not be going up at all. My point is that it's really not unreasonable for game prices to be rising at this point, and it's better for gamers that it is in the form of an optional increase at first rather than a mandatory one.

[Sniperwolf572 758]

This is a ludicrous slippery slope argument. Games won't be costing hundreds of dollars anytime soon because no one would buy them if they did. A $10 optional DLC on release is not indicative of a an impending massive price increase, and as I said before, it's really about time for a small price increase. We can't expect games to stay $60 forever as long as inflation is a reality.

EA is a for-profit company. They have a responsibility to their shareholders to maximize their profits; it would be irresponsible for them to intentionally ignore the profit that can be gained through DLC. You might not like this, but it is an essential feature of capitalism.

The content is still being made optional regardless of whether it was developed before or after the decision to make it DLC. Would you rather it be included with the "original game" and made mandatory (along with its $10 price tag)? This whole idea that the game developer somehow owes you whatever content was developed before the game is released -- regardless of the quantity of that content -- for the arbitrary set price of $60 (for a AAA title) is ridiculous. If the DLC were exactly the same but released a few months later, how would that be any better? How is offering day-one DLC fundamentally any different from game developers charging the same amount of money for games of varying levels of content?

If you're really having an ethical crisis over supporting day-one DLC, I recommend simply pretending that the content doesn't exist. After all, if ME3 were released exactly as is without the optional DLC, I'm sure that no one would feel that it was lacking in content for its $60 price tag. The only reason you feel entitled to the DLC content is because you know that it exists.

Then the price would effectively not be going up at all. My point is that it's really not unreasonable for game prices to be rising at this point, and it's better for gamers that it is in the form of an optional increase at first rather than a mandatory one.

There's no need for the prices to be going up. Profit is what matters, and it has been demonstrated many times that the lower prices reap higher profits because of the increase in customers which are suddenly able to afford your product.

But let's stop this discussion here, if you wish discuss this (game pricing, impact of day 1 DLC on the gamers, etc) with the community, please open up a new thread. I'd love to discuss this in more detail as well, but let's keep this thread relevant to the actual game itself, instead of polluting it with profit discussions and day 1 DLC gripes. :)

[paecmaker 23]

I have wanted to get this game since I first heard about it, but I am going to wait for a while, just to see how people think it is and see if the price goes down some.

[Mr. Charles 22]

I preordered on G2play.com for 39€. let's see how this one turns out :cool:

[hellfire257 3]

I presume you've all seen the trailers they put out recently? BioWare are certainly big fans of Two Steps From Hell. Mind you, who isn't? :)

[Maio 293]

I don't know if you guys like rock, but here is a decent rock cover of the ME3 theme

U7q5PosDms4

[soul_assassin 1750]

Should be getting it in the mail tomorrow :) can't wait!

[Lester 0]

I loved the Series, but Origin is a absolutly no-go for me ... this would be the first Game i would miss a lot, but i don't support things like Origin !

Additional things like 1-Day DLC are also a slap in the face for customers, it's pinpoint the marketing course.

[Tonci87 163]

AS I already said, I will wait util the GOTY Edition that includes all DLCs hits the shelves or steam. No Origin on my PC

[Mr. Charles 22]

I'm playing the MP first, as you need War Assets from it to get a good SP end cutscene (yea i know). Turns out you don't have to play that much MP tho. After 2 failed missions and 1 successful i am at 61%.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/06/mass-effect-3-war-assets-and-readiness-how-multiplayer-affects-your-ending/

Add me on Origin for a nice game ;)

[st_dux 26]

I'm playing the MP first, as you need War Assets from it to get a good SP end cutscene (yea i know).

You don't really need it. Getting good "war assets" in MP just means that you don't have to do as many side quests in SP. According to the producers, if you are a completionist, you should have no problem succeeding fully in SP alone. The MP is actually pretty fun, though.

[hellfire257 3]

I need to do a bit of MP as well. I'm currently sitting at around 2000 war assets (that's including the multiplier of .5) so I need to get that up a bit. To all you abstainers, you are missing out!

[jeza 5416]

hadent played any of the series two weeks ago, but now managed to complete ME1&2 in a couple of weeks, really enjoyed it, cant wait for this one to come out.

[PuFu 4600]

hadent played any of the series two weeks ago, but now managed to complete ME1&2 in a couple of weeks, really enjoyed it, cant wait for this one to come out.

it IS out :)

[jeza 5416]

it IS out :)

UK out on the 9th, so have to wait a little bit longer.

[hellfire257 3]

Pah, don't believe that rubbish Jeza!

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038459219#post1038459219

[Tonci87 163]

I'm playing the MP first, as you need War Assets from it to get a good SP end cutscene (yea i know). Turns out you don't have to play that much MP tho. After 2 failed missions and 1 successful i am at 61%.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/03/06/mass-effect-3-war-assets-and-readiness-how-multiplayer-affects-your-ending/

Add me on Origin for a nice game ;)

That exactly what I feared would happen. They damage the SP experience to make you play MP to make you buy stupid extra stuff.

[krycek 349]

I had a bad feeling about this and I'm pretty glad I didn't bought it.

I played(and still playing) on a friend's crapbox360 so I don't know how much is different on pc(mostly regarding graphics since I'm playing on ancient hardware).

Bad things:

-graphics,these guys returned to 2002 and I didn't knew,using sprites in lots of locations (Purgatory is the perfect example),2d smoke,low quality textures or so stretched that it looks ridiculous.I remember when I played ME2 on my pc stuff like this wasn't so bad.Of course I'm comparing xbox graphics to pc,but after I played the demo on my pc I assume there aren't many improvements there too.Also they said because they have the engine developed with ME2 things should go smoothly with ME3 so wtf happened??

-pathetic animations(again wtf happened since ME2??)

-this should be funny after ME2 but the rpg part is very streamlined,in fact I would say it's totally gone,all you do in this game is shoot,watching cutscene and choose one of the 2-3 dialogue options

-the fetch quest system from DA2 is present here too,you find crap on different locations then you run around Citadel giving that crap to random npcs

-streamlined dialogue with all your squad mates like you had with Zaeed or Kasumi in ME2

-even less hub worlds than ME2,after the hobbit hub worlds in ME2 I thought they improved them in size and scope.Right now I only see Citadel as hub world,yay for more recycled locations in such a vast universe.Oh and the size of ME1 Citadel still beats the crap out of the current one.Of course they could use the war excuse for not making more hub worlds,I call it laziness.I really wished to visit Thessia or Palaven as hub worlds.

-no diversity in secondary quests or exploration,all I saw until now is "go to this location and shoot something".

-saw some pretty big plot holes but I won't even add them as spoilers since game is pretty new

-the so called war assets are nothing more than smoke and mirrors,I haven't reach the end but I assume all it does is "different number,different cutscene"

Good parts:

-combat is truly more interesting than previous versions,no more hiding in a corner and pop everyone from there.You get assaulted from different positions and is not safe staying in one location,good combo of high lvl enemies and lower grunts

-the new reaper enemies are interesting,I got tired killing millions of mercenaries in ME2

-my friend imported his save and the decisions he made in past games tied in nicely here,big bonus here for Bioware

-some of the writing is pretty good when it's not plagued by cheesy lines

-the presentation and atmosphere is pretty nicely done,you have the feeling the Reapers are indeed some space monsters although the reaction of different species is pretty weird.

For example extinction threatens everyone,planets are ravaged and entire fleets are destroyed,but turians and krogans are still pissed at each other and other examples like these

-story is pretty interesting for now(my opinion may change when I reach the end)

I only reached Tuchanka so I assume there is a lot more before that.Since I won't have access to the game for awhile I'm not sure how interesting the game would become in the later stages.

Now I know ME1&2 never had too much rpg in them too,but I believe ME3 just turned into some CoD space game or the MTV of rpg games.

Can't really know how can you streamline something that was already streamlined starting with ME2,but EA&Bioware did it.

Fantastic universe but gimped by idiotic devs or idiotic decisions.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Krycek

[st_dux 26]

That exactly what I feared would happen. They damage the SP experience to make you play MP to make you buy stupid extra stuff.

As I stated in an earlier reply, you don't need to do any of the MP stuff to get a perfect ending in SP. Putting hours into MP (you never need to buy extra stuff) just means that less side quests are required for a perfect SP ending, but you can of course still do whatever you want.

[Tonci87 163]

As I stated in an earlier reply, you don't need to do any of the MP stuff to get a perfect ending in SP. Putting hours into MP (you never need to buy extra stuff) just means that less side quests are required for a perfect SP ending, but you can of course still do whatever you want.

Who told you that? Some gaming press, repeating EA PR?

[st_dux 26]

Who told you that? Some gaming press, repeating EA PR?

It was stated by at least one BioWare producer, but it's also fairly self-evident once you've been playing the game for a while (as I have). Trust me, MP is 100% optional, and it does not diminish the SP experience.

[krycek 349]

It was stated by at least one BioWare producer, but it's also fairly self-evident once you've been playing the game for a while (as I have). Trust me, MP is 100% optional, and it does not diminish the SP experience.

Yes if you want to have a better score at the end and not touching the MP the alternative is to play this stupid mini-game called "Reapers chasing you" in which you have to scan most of the Reaper occupied systems for war assets.In ME2 you used that awful planet scanning mini-game,but at least you were encouraged to use it for finding secondary quests.Heh and people complained about Mako exploration.

[hellfire257 3]

As I stated in an earlier reply, you don't need to do any of the MP stuff to get a perfect ending in SP. Putting hours into MP (you never need to buy extra stuff) just means that less side quests are required for a perfect SP ending, but you can of course still do whatever you want.

This is correct. You either play MP or go and complete more sidequests and/or scan more systems. Your choice entirely. Pick your poison.