Mass Effect: Andromeda

[Ike Turner]

It could just have been a bug in shaders or .. who knows.
After patch it also runs faster.

On Xbox the performance is actually tanking in places like the Nexus docking bay etc..there are some odds performance issues...for example perfs get better after 15mins of playtime and be fine for an hour..then tank again for a while...

 

[Dave Baumann]

Well, for me this is game of the year, or even the generation. I'm generally a sucka for Bioware games and the OCD in me has to go through every map marker there is and clear it all off, so I've literally spent days doing that. What sets this apart for me is the combat mechanics is just epic. Intuitive and yet challenging, with a great mix of knowing when to duck and cover or run in closer with a shotgun or melee attack

 

[Sigfried1977]

It could just have been a bug in shaders or .. who knows.
After patch it also runs faster.

I doubt it. The dead-eyed characters are still in the prerecorded cut-scenes after all. You'd have to be extremely incompetent not to notice buggy eye shaders in your cinematics.

 

[AlNom]

Whoa. Even the pre-recorded parts are poor? That's irritating. Maybe I should wait for an Extended Cut redux. :/ >_>

 

[Technewsreader]

Might give this a try the day it will be patched to a worthy product. I would feel ripped off had I pre ordered this game or paid full price for it. The glitches and bugs may not bother all gamers but for me immersion is a important factor in story driven games.

 

[iroboto]

Patch Notes released:
http://blog.bioware.com/2017/05/09/mass-effect-andromeda-patch-1-06-notes/

In this upcoming patch, we continued to improve our cinematic scenes, particularly in the opening hours of the game. In addition to enhanced performance and stability, we addressed a number of player-reported issues, including a bug that caused SAM to repeatedly tell Ryder they had received new email.

Because we don’t want players to miss any of the great side conversations with their crew, dialogue options will no longer appear “greyed out” if a character has more to say.

Those of you who have the Deluxe or Super Deluxe edition will also receive two custom Nomad skins, a new casual Pathfinder outfit, and an exclusive multiplayer pack with a high chance of receiving an ultra-rare item.

We also made changes to combat and multiplayer balance, which you can read about here.

A full list of fixes is below. For patch notes in other languages, click here.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Mass Effect put on Indefinite Hold

This is one news I'm not surprised one bit:

- Andromeda was a critical failure given Bioware's previous standards. It's probably a commercial failure too, since GMG is already selling the game for $35. It's not like there's a legion of fans aching to know what's next after Andromeda.

- Mass Effect 1 always seemed to me like a plan B to LucasArts not willing to give Bioware the rights to do KOTOR 3.

- EA has exclusive rights to Star Wars games, Disney doesn't have the same inertia as LucasArts. Star Wars nowadays is an immensely more powerful franchise for space operas than Mass Effect, especially after Andromeda

- No need to have EA making space opera franchises that would ultimately compete with each other.

 

[Rodéric]

OMG please don't butcher Star Wars anymore, let it rest too.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

OMG please don't butcher Star Wars anymore, let it rest too.

I'm cool with Bioware making a Star Wars RPG on the same style as KOTOR/Mass Effect, as long as Drew Karpyshyn writes it. He's the lead writer for Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR 1, Mass Effect 1+2 and SWTOR's latest expansions.
Looking at his work history, if Bioware is to make a Star-Wars RPG they'll probably pick him up.

Fortunately, David Gaier with his constant LGBTQ-drama-shoehorning is long gone from the company. Andromeda's writers have proven to not be on par with Star Wars standards (I saw zero reviews praising the plot and character development), so EA probably wouldn't be picking those up either.

 

[AlNom]

What does LGBTQ have to do with anything?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

What does LGBTQ have to do with anything?

Nothing, which is exactly my point about Inquisition's writing.

Immersion-breaking and unnecessary LGBTQ-drama-shoehorning by David Gaider, who proudly announced in many interviews and presentations he would do so for Inquisition, and so he did.
Nothing wrong with gay, lesbian, trans or whomever else appearing in a game set in an imaginary universe. It's the unnecessary soap opera regarding acceptance issues that spoils the game, first because it's condescending and second because it's social agenda marketing rubbed in my face, in a product I paid for.

TotalBiscuit and Jesse Cox put it in the very same terms as I would do in this discussion.

 

[milk]

Tough topic but have to say I agree. We are adults, we don't need the same old kindergarden "be nice to people diferent from you" talk yet again. Everybody has heard it at least 100 times by now. If there still are people out there that are bigoted assholes, it is not by lack of acceptance preaching, and more of it won't change a thing. At this point, this stuff just annoys those who aren't prejudiced, and escalates the hate of those who are.
Most writers still do it though because they are much more concerned with virtue-signalling than the actual issue they supposedly care about, which puts them in this blind ego-centrical bubble.

 

[AlNom]

They're kinda small inserts in the grand scheme (especially the side-character). The writing in DA: I as a whole has problems apart from this somewhat nitpicking of issues. If anything, "daddy/parent issues" are far too prevalent among previous games relatively speaking.

Sure, it could have been less contrived, but of all the things to complain about, it's kind of harsh to pick on that.

 

[milk]

fair enough.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I returned to Andromeda this week and finished it today - thoroughly enjoying it.

That said, this formula is very now tired with the same annoyances as previous games.

• Too many of the side quests are uninteresting busy work. go here, kill these enemies, kill this second wave, now go here, rinse and repeat.
• Too much running between points. e.g. you're on a planet but to progress the mission, which could be on the very same planet, you need to leave the planet to read an email on your ship. Literally, WTF. Why design a quest that has the player sitting through a Nomad extraction, the ship leaving the planet, walking your character 15 feet to the email terminal on the bridge, reading the email, walking back to the map, then landing on the same planet. Seriously, WTF. There are plenty of games which had you move between points, Red Dead Redemption, GTA, the Witcher, but you're moving through environments which are a) nice to look at, and b) where something can happen.
• Liam. I don't get this character at all. His backstory is he wanted to be a lawyer so he became a cop, then quit, then became a crisis responder, then quit to join the initiative which he is somehow qualified to be on the Pathfinders crew. His 'contribution' is to argue with every other companion in the Nomad, this making me never take him anywhere and he triggers a series of missions where he has just fucked something up and somehow I've not kicked him off the ship?
• That need to keep running around your ship after every missions in case somebody has something new to say. There must be a better way of accomplishing forwarding relationship. In Star Trek the Captain is mostly on the bridge or in his ready room, and even when not, people get in touch with him if they want to talk to him. A few times returning from a mission, Suvi or Kallo would say <such and such> would like to talk to you. That's a good start.
• I'd like to see Bioware return to Mass Effect but the fundamental game mechanics need an overhaul.

First, I'd like to see a better implementation for the passage of time. The game's mechanics make everything feel instant; travel, exploration, R&D and other special projects and there is no sense of urgency, i.e. you can be between huge plot-progressing missions on a planet then go halfway across the galaxy to get a bottle of alcohol for a NPC.

I'd like to let my navigator/pilot set a course for somewhere, or just survey the local systems for POI and mining spots, and arrange for them to be mined, while I am doing more important things on the ship itself.

 

[iroboto]

That need to keep running around your ship after every missions in case somebody has something new to say. There must be a better way of accomplishing forwarding relationship. In Star Trek the Captain is mostly on the bridge or in his ready room, and even when not, people get in touch with him if they want to talk to him. A few times returning from a mission, Suvi or Kallo would say <such and such> would like to talk to you. That's a good start.

wow. lol I have no words. This is pretty spot on. gotta upvote this.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

wow. lol I have no words. This is pretty spot on. gotta upvote this.

I really like all four Mass Effect games and every time I play one after a long absence it feels so like Star Trek. But the thing about Star Trek, and plenty of other sci-fi, is that your ship takes time to do things and get from A to B, during which others things on the ship are happening.

I don't need to be running all over the damn ship all the damn time. If I'm in engineering it's got to be because I need to be in engineering, not because I want to talk to the damn engineer.

They could do more interesting things with a real time (n.b. not realtime) mechanic. Make choosing to head to system A or system B a meaningful decision with some consequences, like having your pieces out of place in a strategy game. If you can fly anywhere instantly you lose all se se of urgency. If I'm on one side of the galaxy doing something frivolous and something happens on the other side, there should be a consequence. Maybe you can't rush back to rescue somebody, maybe a companion dies.

On companions, why do you just collect them all in your ship like Pokemon? Why by the end of Andromeda had every single companion had maxed out every possible skill? Make me pick him or her for pilot, maybe their particular skills will impact the game. Let me send a crew member on an automated mission, maybe they'll live or die, depending on their skill.

Bioware have all the pieces for a truly great sci-fi RPG.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Bioware have all the pieces for a truly great sci-fi RPG.

I'm not so sure there will be a Bioware after Anthem..

Furthermore, the current Bioware team has reportedly very little of the dev team that made The first 3 Mass Effect and first 2 Dragon Age games.

Which you can tell, honestly.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I'm not so sure there will be a Bioware after Anthem..

Furthermore, the current Bioware team has reportedly very little of the dev team that made The first 3 Mass Effect and first 2 Dragon Age games. Which you can tell, honestly.

I don't think having the same people, making the same type of games year-in, year-out is necessarily a good thing. I didn't make any of the Mass Effect games but having played then, I can see the issues with them. New people with new ideas is what all organisations need.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I don't think having the same people, making the same type of games year-in, year-out is necessarily a good thing.

Of course not.
The only necessary bad thing is when the sequels and new projects start going down in quality and general success. One could point to the team feeling burned out regarding the game genre or setting, and that would be a valid argument. But in this case, Anthem is completely different from anything Bioware and news about key people leaving the studio have been abundant.