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[theWB27]

Well, another beloved gaming franchise gets destroyed by the shambling, incompetent behemoth that is EA.

Still, at least Biowares main strengths of well written, intimate, character driven storytelling in intricately crafted, believable worlds is getting completely squandered on Anthem, So the studio is being almost entirely misused and it's potential utterly squandered to chase the shallow multiplayer shooter crowd that can easily turned be into whales, instead of making games for the audience that made Bioware worth buying in the first place. Yay!

Honestly, if it weren't for a new Dragonage being in the works, I'd actually be hoping for EA tojust hurry up and shut Bioware down. It's still going to happen, but at least we should get one last decent 'true' Bioware game out of it before the end.

Well, hopefully....

This is one of the more petty posts I've read. Is there any evidence Bioware was made to make Anthem and it's not the result of making three Mass Effects and wanting to do something other than that?

Now you want people to lose jobs because of it? Hotdamn get a grip.

 

[whiteninja]

Unless they can clean up with the next Dragon Age this is probably gonna be it for me with Bioware.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Fuck Bioware.

Idiots killed my favorite franchise. This has been so frustrating.

But I'm only human after all
I'm only human after all
Don't put your blame on me

 

[Nirolak]

Err wut? Its EA's Fault they moved the key developers and creators during production and handed it to a team that was way under skilled and under managed wasn't the fault of them.

It depends how you define moved. Casey Hudson asked to helm a new IP with the ME team leads, which lead to Montreal getting Mass Effect 4 instead of a Mass Effect FPS spin-off.

 

[_woLf]

The franchise would have been over after ME3 otherwise. BW Edmonton thought the ME story had been told and wanted to make Anthem.

Then they should have let it be over. Do it right or don't do it at all.

It frustrates me that my two most favorite EA franchises both got killed within a year of each other, man.

 

[Tovarisc]

specifically bioware montreal.

Anthem is looking like the next big hit though so Bioware is still alright

Do we know anything new about Anthem?

That very tightly scripted and touched up vertical slice from E3 looked pretty, but was just that. We have seen a lot of those only to be disappointed by end product.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

Mass Effect was my favorite series last gen and I still haven't bothered trying this game. It's all so sad.

And I still think it is strange that this is the game that got Shinobi to leave GAF.

 

[Floody]

What state is it in now? Still a buggy mess or mostly sorted now.

Despite the way it went, I still plan to pick it up eventually.

 

[olag]

Anthem is looking like the next big hit though so Bioware is still alright

That has yet to be seen. I mean the game certainly generated a lot of buzz during E3 but it wasn't destiny levels. Plus If the game cant capture a strong core following I can see it going the way of Evolve and just fizzling out.

 

[Stygr]

Yeah this is all Bioware. Fuck them for passing off their biggest franchise to an untested studio. And fuck Anthem too.

Oh sure, because you have to stick with the same franchise fora decade or more, and now, when they want to develop a new IP, you are blaming ANTHEM, EA, BioWare Edmonton for Andromeda? Lol

 

[GrantDaNasty]

Is the expectation that EA/Bioware bury the Mass Effect franchise completely now?
What are the chances of EA/Bioware admitting to the games mistakes and present us with another, better Mass Effect in the near future?
To kinda "make it up" to the fans, like a FF14 1.0 and A Realm Reborn situation?

Bioware's main focus for the next few years will be a follow-up to DA:I and their new IP, Anthem.

ME has been taken out back, with a .45 round lodged in the back of its skull. They might reboot it in 10 years, who knows, but for the time being, EA sees the brand as toxic.

FFXIV is a once-in-a-lifetime situation that I don't think you will ever see again. And keep in mind, likely the only reason SE went in and remade that game was because as an MMO, it's a long-term revenue source and builds trust and loyalty to the brand. ME is a single-player focused series, and I doubt anyone considers its MP anything to write home about.

 

[Nabbis]

Eh, Bioware pretty much died after DA 2 for me. Well, i did play DA:I but my expectations of their output has been very low during these years.

 

[Mozendo]

In a sense. They updated it to allow you to swap complexions and made the hair options unisex, but it's still inferior by a large margin to DA:I's character creator. They took a gamble on using scanned faces but I think that kind of knee-capped them with how much you could customize it seems. I hope they don't go that route again.

Wow that's pretty damn lame. Didn't they say they were going to let you customize it completely or am I remembering wrong?

 

[Wulfram]

Was there really DLC planned to "finish" the ending? I put my game on hold to wait until all the patches were out.

The ending isn't unfinished. It does contain a fairly obvious DLC story hook, but that's a hint at a new story rather than unfinished business in this one.

 

[InsaneFandom]

Was there really DLC planned to "finish" the ending? I put my game on hold to wait until all the patches were out.

Well from playing it it seemed obvious there was at least one piece of post-game DLC planned (not to finish the story) but I felt like the actual ending was more setting things up for future games

It doesn't end on a cliffhanger exactly but there's certainly some things that are unresolved & in such a way that you'd assume they were going to be followed up on in future installments or at least DLC. Personally I didn't feel like the game felt unfinished but it's clear they intended on there being more games set in Andromeda.

 

[RRockman]

Freakin sucks tho. Another game serie ruined.

It's a bit odd for me, since I only liked the second game. I do hope it makes a triumphant return at somepoint though.

 

[etta]

No Xbox One X enhancement patch?
Sigh...
Guess I’ll get the PC version.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

Sucks what happened, but their quality had been getting worse since the first mass effect. I'm talking mostly writing, here.

 

[Ralemont]

Then they should have let it be over. Do it right or don't do it at all.

It frustrates me that my two most favorite EA franchises both got killed within a year of each other, man.

But then the franchise is dead either way. At least in ths scenario we had a chance to get another great game.

 

[Milennia]

the most disappointed ive ever been by a video game in my life

 

[Yeul]

That is highly debatable. It's up to you if you want to start throwing Metacritic scores around

The idea that people actually really like Dragon Age and its direction despite it shifting away from being heavily tactics-based as it was in Origins is shocking, right? That doesn't change the fact that the game sold very well for them and, more specifically, the DLC Trespasser was almost universally acclaimed.

Wow that's pretty damn lame. Didn't they say they were going to let you customize it completely or am I remembering wrong?

Well, that was the impression a lot of people got when they said they were going to update the character creator for better customization. No one really knew what it entailed completely, but a lot of people were hoping it would be updated to something similar to DA:I's because of a tweet Aaryn Flynn made in February prior to release. When someone asked him what the CC was like in ME:A he said it was "...similar to DA:I's. We didn't want to reinvent the wheel." This obviously made a lot of people happy because for the most part, people liked the amount you could customize characters in DA:I (hair and eyebrows not included lol). Obviously things changed during development and the update didn't really remedy that so yeah, disappointing to say the least.

 

[Stygr]

Err wut? Its EA's Fault they moved the key developers and creators to Anthem during production and handed it to a team that was way under skilled and under managed wasn't the fault of them.

Uhm what? Anthem development started back in 2012 after ME3, they didn't moved devs or creators at all, they were done after Mass Effecr 3 and they wanted to develop a new IP, that's all.

 

[Theorry]

So EA Access before the end of the year?

 

[gogosox82]

This is silly as Dragon Age does really well for them and it was well received.

It reviewed well but it has a mixed reaction in the community.

 

[[boots]]

Turian Ark. Lol
What could have been

Fixed

 

[michaelius]

I guess there gonna be a real Mass Effect 4 some day but not for loooooong time.

How many cases of EA taking risk to resurrect IP they stomped into the ground in the first place can we find in their history ?

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

I'm not sure why, but this pisses me off.
I love mass effect.

 

[Jafku]

My biggest regret of 2017. What a shame

 

[K.Jack]

Yeah this is all Bioware. Fuck them for passing off their biggest franchise to an untested studio. And fuck Anthem too.

Pulling talent mid-development, and not even bothering to replace it, sure didn't help. People at Montreal felt it was sabotage for a reason.

Blaming EA for this is really missing the plot.

 

[Kamisori]

Was EA supposed to give them 10 years and $80 million? Give them 2 or 3 support studios to help and torpedo other projects? Not sure how EA is the bad guy on this one outside of Pap EA memes.

They are the publishers, they are supposed to make sure the studio has the mean (human and financial) and to keep the right direction according the validated project.

And if Kotaku was right, EA has failed to give Bioware Montreal the staff needed as well as guidance during the development of ME:A. Anyone with a videogame history/background could have seen the clusterfuck coming (and it didn't miss when we have seen the release and the comment from the journalists and the players).

I'm kinda for Bioware Montreal, but EA has also completely dropped the balls on this one.

 

[Maledict]

It reviewed well but it has a mixed reaction in the community.

It was Bioware highest selling launch ever - it did well

 

[Wedzi]

So no xox Update ?

That's what I want to know. I was kind of waiting to jump back into the game once the One X comes out but if there's not going to be any support and the patches are stopping, then there's nothing left to really wait for.

 

[Altairre]

I still enjoyed Andromeda for the moments where it reminded me of old Mass Effect but overall it was certainly a disappointment. Just a bummer to read this, looks like that's it for now for one of my favorite gaming franchises.

 

[TC McQueen]

No Xbox One X enhancement patch?
Sigh...
Guess I’ll get the PC version.

It's $20 until the 25th, so it's the right time to buy. Run it with these mods, ignore the additional tasks, and don't bother with the quests to help individuals once you get 100% viability, and you should be able to get it all done in 30-40 hours.

 

[jdstorm]

Not sure why people are hating on Anthem. Bioware Edmonton had told Shepards story and wanted to do something new. We should all just be happy they are trying their hand at doing something new and creative since they have a good trackrecord of making great games and the creative freedom that a new IP brings should lead to something good being made.

As for Andromeda. It sucks that things turned out the way that it did, but most people are still employed and if you don't want to play it you dont have too.

 

[Machina]

You out there somewhere, Jim Sterling? I'd love to see you tear EA and Bioware's shit apart over this in your next video

 

[EekumBokum]

With the patches it's gotten, is it worth playing in its current state? I got it at launch, but haven't played it yet cause I was waiting for the patching to finish.

 

[Joco]

Dragon Age lives while Mass Effect dies. Sad!

 

[Wedzi]

That has yet to be seen. I mean the game certainly generated a lot of buzz during E3 but it wasn't destiny levels. Plus If the game cant capture a strong core following I can see it going the way of Evolve and just fizzling out.

Having a decent single player component and a good story will go along way.

 

[Wulfram]

In a sense. They updated it to allow you to swap complexions and made the hair options unisex, but it's still inferior by a large margin to DA:I's character creator. They took a gamble on using scanned faces but I think that kind of knee-capped them with how much you could customize it seems. I hope they don't go that route again.

The swapping complexions is a pretty big deal though. If you want to quickly make a distinctive looking face, I think its better than DAI.

Though the lack of eyebrow options sucks.

 

[yuraya]

Better not be the last we hear of the franchise.

First Metal Gear now Mass Effect. My 2 favorite franchises from last gen dead.

(｡-_-&#65377

 

[TI82]

Not surprised at all, shit game.

 

[Yeul]

It reviewed well but it has a mixed reaction in the community.

Well if the community is GAF, then yeah, that's obvious. But the original post was talking about being concerned for DA4 after what happened to ME:A. Making a post saying "you should be concerned because it's Dragon Age" doesn't do anything but stir up drama because factually speaking, the game sold very well to warrant three DLCs, a sequel that's being worked on right now, and no planned end to the franchise. I guess we'll see how it goes as we learn more.

The swapping complexions is a pretty big deal though. If you want to quickly make a distinctive looking face, I think its better than DAI.

Though the lack of eyebrow options sucks.

Swapping complexions is like the bare minimum that should be in a character creator. ME:A did improve some aspects such as hair that had a bit of physics to it, allowing you to make some pretty good characters with skin tones other than white, etc. but I've seen a huge variety of unique DA:I characters. I think some people might have been a bit intimidated by DA:I's CC and didn't know how to make something that they thought looked good, but in general, I think it's better than ME:A's. I still think a lot of the ME:A characters look the same, but that's just me.

 

[Stygr]

Not sure why people are hating on Anthem. Bioware Edmonton had told Shepards story and wanted to do something new. We should all just be happy they are trying their hand at doing something new and creative since they have a good trackrecord of making great games and the creative freedom that a new IP brings should lead to something good being made.

As for Andromeda. It sucks that things turned out the way that it did, but most people are still employed and if you don't want to play it you dont have too.

Exactly, they ended the Shepard trilogy and they wanted to do something new, but here, they can't understand this and they shitting on Anthem and BioWare for doing a new IP.

 

[Vyrance]

Very unfortunate. Don't care at all about multiplayer. Sucks that Mass Effect died for Anthem.

 

[serenewarfare]

Didn't EA force them to use Frostbite?

That's the angle that you could blame EA from if so. Frostbite had never been used for an RPG, so they basically had to create all those engine systems from scratch while also developing the game.

 

[Kamisori]

With the patches it's gotten, is it worth playing in its current state? I got it at launch, but haven't played it yet cause I was waiting for the patching to finish.

They fixed the look of the eyes, several animations, added few things, fixed few more and "only" improved the cinematics of the first quarter/fifth of the game (while most of the cinematics needed improvements) :/

 

[mreddie]

2016 and 17 have not been kind to the big veteran franchises, I think Halo 5 was a sign to things to come.

 

[Maledict]

Didn't EA force them to use Frostbite?

That's the angle that you could blame EA from if so. Frostbite had never been used for an RPG, so they basically had to create all those engine systems from scratch while also developing the game.

Um, Dragon Age Inquisition was on frostbite. And bizarrely it ran and looked better than Mass Effect did a lot of the time, which was just plain weird.

 

[theWB27]

Didn't EA force them to use Frostbite?

That's the angle that you could blame EA from if so. Frostbite had never been used for an RPG, so they basically had to create all those engine systems from scratch while also developing the game.

Guerilla Games went from using their engine on FPS Killzone games and created a wonderful third person open world title in Horizon.