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"Mass Effect 3 will arrive later than expected, BioWare has announced. A nebulous new release date is to be found somewhere within the first three months of 2012."

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/04/mass- ... 3-delayed/


bummer...

That doesn't seem surprising considering that SWTOR will be missing its original target window for "Spring 2011". It doesn't seem like good business sense for Bioware to release two major AAA titles at the same time.

Right I was thinking the same thing. either way it helps my budget for the fall at least, and there will be plenty of other titles to go around.
I think if it was a dead spell I would be more disappointed.

My sister's going to rage so much when she hears this.

Shinova wrote:My sister's going to rage so much when she hears this.

It gets worse
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/04/mass- ... arket-opp/

Joystiq wrote:When asked about the delay, EA boss John Riccitiello said, "Essentially, step by step, [BioWare is] adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter-meets-RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 did and Mass Effect 2 began to approach."

The Joystiq people thing multiplayer, I don't think so I think BAD THINGS(tm) have come out of the management department and into the studio. Like Chris Tucker is doing the voice of Sheppard's never before mentioned little brother, or him getting a small talking animal sidekick voiced by Gilbert Godfried.

I have a flexible amount of bullshit-endurance where it comes to games I have a positive history with. I enjoyed the idea of Mass Effect and the experience enough that I was willfully blind to the problems other players saw and posted endlessly about like the cancerous little scrotum-absent bitches they are. So when Bioware says, "A delay of a few months will make the climactic experience you've invested in a little better", my first instinct isn't to become one of those bitches. I'm willing to say, "Okay, that's not an unreasonable request" and wait to see what the product looks like.

Lagmonster wrote:I have a flexible amount of bullshit-endurance where it comes to games I have a positive history with. I enjoyed the idea of Mass Effect and the experience enough that I was willfully blind to the problems other players saw and posted endlessly about like the cancerous little scrotum-absent bitches they are. So when Bioware says, "A delay of a few months will make the climactic experience you've invested in a little better", my first instinct isn't to become one of those bitches. I'm willing to say, "Okay, that's not an unreasonable request" and wait to see what the product looks like.

And with BioWare's track record I am sure they will deliver good on their statment so I have no worries, like I stated earlier it's not like we have a shortage Releases this year either.

What I find positive is they actually saying well in advance that it's going to be delayed for such and such reason. How often have other companies delay games at the last minute with no notification. And while I'm a bit diappointed it's only a few months.

Lagmonster wrote:I have a flexible amount of bullshit-endurance where it comes to games I have a positive history with. I enjoyed the idea of Mass Effect and the experience enough that I was willfully blind to the problems other players saw and posted endlessly about like the cancerous little scrotum-absent bitches they are. So when Bioware says, "A delay of a few months will make the climactic experience you've invested in a little better", my first instinct isn't to become one of those bitches. I'm willing to say, "Okay, that's not an unreasonable request" and wait to see what the product looks like.

Are we still at a point in the games industry where developers actually listen to what the spoiled, arrogant little brats on their forums say and want?

CaptHawkeye wrote: Are we still at a point in the games industry where developers actually listen to what the spoiled, arrogant little brats on their forums say and want?

Depends on the developer, I suppose. Paradox does that a lot

I'm not too concerned about the release date being moved. I was planning to upgrade my PC for ME3 (and a bunch of other games I wanted to play but couldn't due to low specs), so it's actually good for me, as components will fall in price somewhat

Yeah, as much as I want to play ME3, I'm not set back by this decision. It shows that the developers want to put in extra time to make it just right.

Hate when award winning or record breaking games need to grab an even bigger market share so they "adjust the game", try to make it less transparent and deliver a good game not a cash cow.

Better late than rushed. Always.

I'm perfectly fine with this.

Collossus wrote:

Lagmonster wrote:I have a flexible amount of bullshit-endurance where it comes to games I have a positive history with. I enjoyed the idea of Mass Effect and the experience enough that I was willfully blind to the problems other players saw and posted endlessly about like the cancerous little scrotum-absent bitches they are. So when Bioware says, "A delay of a few months will make the climactic experience you've invested in a little better", my first instinct isn't to become one of those bitches. I'm willing to say, "Okay, that's not an unreasonable request" and wait to see what the product looks like.

And with BioWare's track record I am sure they will deliver good on their statement so I have no worries, like I stated earlier it's not like we have a shortage Releases this year either.

The announcement makes me even more leery than before. After the pile of shit that is Gears of Dragon Duty ("Button = AWESOME"), I cringe every time I hear Bioware EA talk about streamlining franchises that were once great to make them "more accessible."

Highlord Laan wrote:

Collossus wrote:

Lagmonster wrote:I have a flexible amount of bullshit-endurance where it comes to games I have a positive history with. I enjoyed the idea of Mass Effect and the experience enough that I was willfully blind to the problems other players saw and posted endlessly about like the cancerous little scrotum-absent bitches they are. So when Bioware says, "A delay of a few months will make the climactic experience you've invested in a little better", my first instinct isn't to become one of those bitches. I'm willing to say, "Okay, that's not an unreasonable request" and wait to see what the product looks like.

And with BioWare's track record I am sure they will deliver good on their statement so I have no worries, like I stated earlier it's not like we have a shortage Releases this year either.

The announcement makes me even more leery than before. After the pile of shit that is Gears of Dragon Duty ("Button = AWESOME"), I cringe every time I hear Bioware EA talk about streamlining franchises that were once great to make them "more accessible."

Well from what I heard they are reverting back to more of the ME1 style weapons upgrade and manipulation, It may not be as in depth as the first but I would welcome anything that added depth to weapons and the ability to customize them. Also love the name, Gears of Dragon Duty.... has a nice ring to it.

Meest wrote:Hate when award winning or record breaking games need to grab an even bigger market share so they "adjust the game", try to make it less transparent and deliver a good game not a cash cow.

Why does appealing to a larger audience equal a bad thing. Oh no, gawd forbid a company out to make money, makes something that a lot of people want to buy. What sell outs.

And it isn't like Mass Effect 2 didn't change after 1, to appeal to a larger audience either. Fucking please.

Mass Effect 2 was also much, much better than 1. Stupid whores, what were they thinking?

Joystiq wrote:When asked about the delay, EA boss John Riccitiello said, "Essentially, step by step, [BioWare is] adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter-meets-RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 did and Mass Effect 2 began to approach."

This is just marketing speak for having to rearchitect some of the gameplay elements that sounded good when they whiteboarded it, but they couldn't get it to be fun in actual practice.

Bioware makes some amazing games, but a lot of the concepts they introduced into ME 1 (Mako scenes) and even ME2 (Mining) may have sounded great in theory but they simply weren't able to tweak them to be fun. At a guess I'd say that they have identified the ME3 equivalent of the Mako, decided there is no way to make it fun, and are going to replace it with something else.

PeZook wrote:Mass Effect 2 was also much, much better than 1. Stupid whores, what were they thinking?

Nitpick - the Conversation with Sovereign is far superior to Harbinger. Though I will admit Harbinger was genre savvy. The first action is to attack the Normandy, and kill Sheppard. Then retrieve the body (to make sure he is dead and stays that way). And during battle, he tells his minions to target Sheppard first.

Though the Legion and Geth backstory is fun to listen to.

PeZook wrote:Mass Effect 2 was also much, much better than 1. Stupid whores, what were they thinking?

Actually, I find that ME1 was the superior game. It had a much grander and less forced feel to it. Also no Reaper baby.

It is also inferior because they made retarded changes to appease asshole complainers instead of improving upon some interesting new ideas. Even if they did give them a big middle finger up their asses at the same time.

Whiners: Elevator rides are too long and boring!!
Developers: OK, we'll take them out.
Replacement: Computer readout diagrams.
Result: Instead of watching your characters in an elevator, you watch a computer screen of an elevator moving between floors and are taken 'out' of the game. Same amount of time spent watching the screen while nothing happens. Hysterical!

Whiners: The decontamination load screen sucks! It is too long and boring.
Developers: OK, we'll take them out.
Replacement: Computer readout diagrams.
Result: Instead of watching your characters in an airlock, you watch a computer screen of a guy getting decontaminated and are taken 'out' of the game. Same amount of time spent watching the screen while nothing happens. Awesome!

Whiners: The weapon cool down system sucks!
Developers: OK, we'll take it out.
Replacement: Absolutely standard, boring, used in every game before it, clip system that is just called a 'heat sink'.
Result: Innovation removed instead of a clever new system improved by simply nefring some of the weapon upgrades. Not so funny.

The Elusive Man, while I find a very intriguing addition to the universe, just by his presence forces the story in a far more linear direction and you lose the feel of control that you had in the first game, which is part of what made it great. Sheppard becomes just a pawn instead of the independent galactic power player that he became in ME1. Granted, he seems to get 'it' back at the end of the game, it does nothing to alleviate the feel of being trapped in a standard game for the entirety of ME2. And Reaper baby.

ME1 had some crippling flaws to it as well, like the lazy planet design and stuff like crappy UI for inventory and lazy gear. Everytime I feel like replaying ME1 I pause when I remember how bad that shit was. ME2 fixed those things but introduced new problems as well (like completely removing the inventory instead of doing it in a different way, although I really like how you hack terminals and thus acquire tech that way rather than the abstract but stupid thing where you have an invisible backpack that can carry hundreds of guns and shit). The mako was fun except on certain planets, where it just became frustrating.

ME1's story felt a lot more tighter than ME2's, but I haven't played ME2 full game for well over a year. I also liked the thermal clip system, although it is hard to gel it with the ME1 system where guns simply cooled down after a few seconds. They should have done a 'best of both worlds' approach where guns will cool down but eventually their heat sink capacity will become compromised, which is where the spare hit sinks come in. Because one of the real problems with ME1's gameplay is that certain mods broke the combat like where you're firing your rifle with 2 frictionless materials X and you can fire indefinitely.

But oh god why did they replace the elevator scenes. I never found them burdensome at all, and it was funny to hear the occasional conversation or news report. Stupid fan bitches. They're going to rip out the mining minigame for ME3 now because everyone fucking hates it, even though there isn't anything wrong with it.

Stofsk wrote:ME1 had some crippling flaws to it as well, like the lazy planet design and stuff like crappy UI for inventory and lazy gear. Everytime I feel like replaying ME1 I pause when I remember how bad that shit was. ME2 fixed those things but introduced new problems as well (like completely removing the inventory instead of doing it in a different way, although I really like how you hack terminals and thus acquire tech that way rather than the abstract but stupid thing where you have an invisible backpack that can carry hundreds of guns and shit). The mako was fun except on certain planets, where it just became frustrating.

None of those were crippling flaws. Planets were fine and the skies were great to look at. It was the buildings on the planets that were lazy. The inventory system sucked and needed to be eliminated, but it hardly kept the game from being fun. The Mako was fine and there was no reason to eliminate it at all.

ME1's story felt a lot more tighter than ME2's, but I haven't played ME2 full game for well over a year. I also liked the thermal clip system, although it is hard to gel it with the ME1 system where guns simply cooled down after a few seconds. They should have done a 'best of both worlds' approach where guns will cool down but eventually their heat sink capacity will become compromised, which is where the spare hit sinks come in. Because one of the real problems with ME1's gameplay is that certain mods broke the combat like where you're firing your rifle with 2 frictionless materials X and you can fire indefinitely.

The thermal clip system is just a fucking clip system. If you like it, you just like how guns work. It completely saps the innovation of, you know, MASS EFFECT from the game. As I said, simply nerf some of the upgrades and the problem is solved.

But oh god why did they replace the elevator scenes. I never found them burdensome at all, and it was funny to hear the occasional conversation or news report. Stupid fan bitches. They're going to rip out the mining minigame for ME3 now because everyone fucking hates it, even though there isn't anything wrong with it.

They messed up the mining mini game by making it too slow to begin with and not having more than one upgrade for it. The mining game from the first game wasn't great either, but a combination of both would have been ideal.

They fucked up by eliminating instead of adding and tweaking. Finding and purchasing licenses for better weapons would have been awesome with the limited amount of money from ME2. It would have made getting the really high end guns a lot more satisfying and given you something to work towards just like you did with the different upgrades in ME2. They eliminated the variations on armor as well for no reason at all. There wasn't nearly as much dress up as there should have been in ME2.

I also disliked the fact they elliminated the decontamination scenes and elevators. Decontamination really helped immersion - I found that was one of those little things that helped you feel the ship was yours, and an actual place, rather than a glorified menu.

Elevators I also had no problem with, especially since they added those news and banter between characters.

On combat, I didn't mind any of the changes. The fighting flowed better, the cover system was more dynamic (you could vault low cover, and slide into low cover from some distance away), they reshuffled character abilities to make you use different companions, rather than training up one or two as jack of all trades, they elliminated the horrid inventory system. Overall I felt it worked better.

The armor customization I also had no problem with, since in ME1, there WAS no dressup. IF you found an armor suit that was absurdly superior, you wore it because otherwise you were dead,even if it was a pink bunny suit. The only thing I seriously missed was the "helmet on/off" switch.

On the story, well...it had some really, really poor moments. And nothing like Virmire, which was dramatic and visceral, which is a shame, but overall wasn't bad. Especially since you could lose more than one team member in the end.

It opened poorly, though. It really hurt SoD when you are told an entire colony went *poof* and the Alliance didn't as much as send a recon team because LOL bureaucracy.

Havok wrote:

Stofsk wrote:ME1 had some crippling flaws to it as well, like the lazy planet design and stuff like crappy UI for inventory and lazy gear. Everytime I feel like replaying ME1 I pause when I remember how bad that shit was. ME2 fixed those things but introduced new problems as well (like completely removing the inventory instead of doing it in a different way, although I really like how you hack terminals and thus acquire tech that way rather than the abstract but stupid thing where you have an invisible backpack that can carry hundreds of guns and shit). The mako was fun except on certain planets, where it just became frustrating.

None of those were crippling flaws. Planets were fine and the skies were great to look at. It was the buildings on the planets that were lazy. The inventory system sucked and needed to be eliminated, but it hardly kept the game from being fun. The Mako was fine and there was no reason to eliminate it at all.

The skies were often pretty but a lot of the so-called habitable planets had no vegetation. The airless vacuum worlds were fine, they look like you're on the surface of a moon, and the ice planets were fine and a few of the desert planets were good as well. Its mainly the earth like planets which had not even a single bush that really gets noticeable, but even so the surface was usually ok. The prefab buildings were what I was mainly talking about, since there's where you do most of the action.

The mako was good in the main plot planets, and using it to explore uncharted worlds was awesome - but what I'm talking about is a select few planets where driving around was just frustrating. There was one in the armstrong cluster which I dread every time I go to because navigating the jagged mountains is fucking bullshit. There were a couple others too. Actually thinking about this, most of the planets which weren't mako-friendly were also the earth like planets. Most of the time the mako got around alright.

The inventory system was tedious to manage and that's not fun. You're right though, it didn't kill my sense of enjoyment of the rest of the game, but it was a serious issue. I don't agree with eliminating it entirely, but on the other hand I actually really, really liked ME2's idea of outfitting your gear prior to a mission. That really helped my sense of immersion. I just wish there was more stuff like mods for you guns and armour and ammo options and getting more equipment for your armour (more pieces, different helmets, or whatever).

The thermal clip system is just a fucking clip system. If you like it, you just like how guns work. It completely saps the innovation of, you know, MASS EFFECT from the game. As I said, simply nerf some of the upgrades and the problem is solved.

Well I agree, I'm just saying it's not like they had to do it one way or no way. You could do a mix approach, but it does suck how they just implemented it and went 'lol the previous way was unworkable'.

They messed up the mining mini game by making it too slow to begin with and not having more than one upgrade for it. The mining game from the first game wasn't great either, but a combination of both would have been ideal.

They fucked up by eliminating instead of adding and tweaking. Finding and purchasing licenses for better weapons would have been awesome with the limited amount of money from ME2. It would have made getting the really high end guns a lot more satisfying and given you something to work towards just like you did with the different upgrades in ME2. They eliminated the variations on armor as well for no reason at all. There wasn't nearly as much dress up as there should have been in ME2.

They did this to a limited extent as most of the high-end guns you can only get as upgrades you find on a mission. Then they released the firepower pack as DLC when really that's the kind of thing that should have been done in-game, like you go to one of the geth missions and you pick up the shotgun there, just like how you can pick up the geth rifle on that planet which had Tali on it.

The dress up was lacking, this is tied to the above in how I wish you could not only buy more mods but also more armour pieces. This was instead done in a DLC fashion instead, which sucked. Stuff like the recon hood and sentry visor weren't even available normally but through a promotion with Dr Pepper IIRC. And then you had the armours which had no helmet toggle feature, which was just bullshit. 'It's not a bug it's a feature!' was the party line over on bioware's forums from the developers.

Yeah because IN THE FUTURE soldiers won't be able to remove their helmets in the field without shipboard facilities

Man field medics in ME must have it pretty hard.