The DRM doesn't have much to do with MP. When you start up an EA game through Origin, it connects to their servers to verify the game and DLC. I believe this is standard with all their games now, so BioWare is unlikely to be able to provide an exception.

 

I'm well aware that it connects to verify the game and DLC.  If you read my post above, I stated exactly that.  What I'd like is for them to find a way so that it's like their previous games in that, unless there's new DLC to be verified, if you're planning on only playing the SP game, you can do so in offline mode.  There are times that the internet has gone out or Origin isn't acting like it should - i.e. possibly forcing you into offline mode - and if you're not already playing the game, that basically means you can't fire it up and play because you'll get an error due to the game not being able to connect to the servers.  And as I also stated before, I have chatted with some of the DA:I team and expressed, as well as I could in tweets, what the issue was, and they did say they'd check things out, but I wanted to flesh my issue out a bit more so they'd truly understand what it was that I was getting at.

I've sent friend requests to those who've listed their Origin usernames.  Mine is DragonWyrd for anyone who wants to add me.

 

Really looking forward to getting this party started in a few months!  And getting to know you guys before then

Im ok playing MP with friends, playing with randoms has gone bad for me in the past whenever they found out my gender, would either get automatically kicked from the game or have sexist/sexual msg's directed at me

 

If DAMP is anything like ME's MP, then 1) don't turn on the mic and just kick baddie bootie with the rest of your team (which means they'll never find out you're female) and 2) there won't be any text chat settings available for people to send messages back and forth because you're too busy fighting wave after wave and can't take the time to actively type a comment out so that was never implemented. 

 

With that said, don't shy away from it just because of bad experiences.  I've found the community with ME MP to be a lot better than in any other MP arena (including/especially MMORPg'S) and expect the DAMP community to be just as awesome.

I'd be interested in grouping up with people for the MP aspect of the game - depending on if my decrepit computer can handle it. 

 

As far as harassment due to being female, I guess I've just been one of the lucky ones - or the fact that I've also played quite a few MMO's and usually have proven my ability to the other gamers prior to them ever finding out my gender (if they ever did learn to begin with).  Don't let fear of what may happen keep you from enjoying an aspect of the game you're interested in trying.

I had a nice 'conversation' earlier, if you can call a series of 140 character or less tweets a conversation, with Mike Laidlaw, Aaron Flynn, and Patrick Weekes.  Since there's not much I can really post in a question on Twitter, I thought I'd post the full issue here with the hopes others can take a look and see what, if anything, can be done.

 

With Dragon Age: Origins (and Awakening), along with Dragon Age II, there was no issue if you played offline, as long as you had the initial first internet connection to validate your game and all DLC content.  Same goes with Mass Effects 1 & 2.  When it came to Mass Effect 3, with the inclusion of Multiplayer requiring us to use Origin, if we didn't have an internet connection or if Origin was being a butt that day and didn't want to connect or update and forced us into offline mode, we couldn't play Mass Effect 3 because the game couldn't connect to the Origin platform to verify and validate the DLC.  A friend of mine had days where she couldn't play the game after an Origin update because it would force her into offline mode and nothing she could do (including constant calls to their tech support team) would fix the issue until it decided to just up and fix itself and the game was available to play again.

 

With the inclusion of Multiplayer in the Dragon Age Inquisition universe, I'm hoping that a way can be found to allow us to still play the single player game in offline mode.  This way if we find ourselves with an internet service interruption, or issues with Origin not wanting to update or connect or forcing us into offline mode, we can still sit down and enjoy watching our Inquisitor as they trek through the gorgeous scenery that has been created for us.

 

Again, a huge thanks to the Dragon Age team and everyone who has come together to give us these beautiful stories to play around with.  It was Dragon Age that got me back into writing, so I have a gargantuan soft spot for this series and its creators. 

Hrolfgar83 wrote...

CeltWolf79 wrote...

You lucky sods who got it at 800 pts. It's showing up as 1200 for me.

Same here I briefly had it up for 800 but as I go to buy 800 points it suddenly changes over to 1200.

They probably saw their error and fixed it asap so they wouldn't lose too much money in sales.  That's my guess at least.

You lucky sods who got it at 800 pts. It's showing up as 1200 for me.

Can't seem to resuscitate the store! Officer and store have completely flat-lined! Need assistance. Repeat: Need assistance!

I'm sure I'm not the only one dealing with this issue but almost every time I try to make a purchase through the multiplayer store, whether it's with in game credits or BioWare points, I get charged for the purchase and then the store times out on me in the process of redeeming the pack I bought.

I have had to call EA support multiple times to have points refunded to me (since I used my own money to purchase those) that were lost in the process of trying to buy spectre packs.  I have also lost a few hundred thousand in-game credits due to this issue over the last few months.  I was informed, today, that this is the last time I can have points refunded to me, so what happens the next time a purchase doesn't go through?  That's actual money out of my pocket.  Am I supposed to grin and bear it?  The only reason I had switched from in-game credits to BioWare points is because, at that time, that was the only sure fire way to have a purchase go through without losing the multiplayer pack I was trying to buy.

Before you ask, no I don't have connection issues anywhere else in the game.  I don't time out in the middle of multiplayer sessions or when I'm tweaking my character with new weapons, mods, armor colors, etc.  I only time out and get kicked from the EA server when I'm trying to complete a store purchase and receive my pack, no matter which form of currency I'm trying to use.

The patch did not fix the issue.  It's still there.  The store still charges for purchases that do not go through and the items are not sitting in the character inventory.  Believe me, I've checked after every failed purchase with game credits or BioWare points.  I was so excited with the new Earth DLC to possibly unlock a new class or weapon and now I've pretty much been told not to touch my BioWare points because of this issue since they can no longer refund them.  That means I just wasted money on something I can't use because I'm afraid of losing it.

I hope a fix is soon in coming.  Either that or I want my money that I spent on points refunded so I can spend it elsewhere.  The only high point of this whole situation is that the people at the EA Technical Support call center are a wonderful group of individuals to speak with and actually take time to listen to the matter.  Luckily the gentleman I spoke with today explained that the only way to get the notice of a developer was to post here - otherwise once a ticket is closed, it goes nowhere, so no one but tech support ever learns of the problem.  He wanted to help me make sure that others are aware that this issue still exists.

TriviaAeducan wrote...

Did any of you participate in this?
http://social.biowar...dex/10853184/25

I didn't even know about it or I would have participated.  Eh well.

PopACherry wrote...

Alright so I checked out his profile, and it's just a bunch of pictures of little stop sign things. I don't see what the big deal is, honestly

If all you're seeing is little stop sign things, then he's probably got the art listed as mature and you won't actually be able to view it unless you're a member and of age to look at it.

mcomommy wrote...

AJRimmsey wrote...

fire ants,marmalade and the testicles of art thieves

This.   Right here.  Brilliant!  You, sir, win the internets for the day!

This and your comment on my journal (the one that you gave me 20 points for figuring out the majority of) have given me huge grins today.

You both win the internets for the day!

KyuzoS7 wrote...

Liesel12 wrote...

He is ripping off ME3 and any ME artwork

yes but all this is happening at DA yes?

He's taking art from sources outside of deviantArt, as well as from art posted within the Mass Effect community on deviantArt, and calling it his own.  He has also posted work that BioWare and EA hold copyrights to such as codex entries, book covers, and in-game letters without giving credit to the original sources.

Why is this being posted here?  So the entire community will know what is going on especially since there are quite a few people in this community who are artists and, while they might not personally use deviantArt, they should be aware of what's going on in case this person uploads their work onto deviantArt.

Well, Liesel, it looks like you beat me to the punch in letting people know here about johnnytopside159 aka cerburus159's art theft on deviantArt.

Though if I remember right, his last account (the johnnytopside one) he had his name listed as Andrew Norkus.

Seriously, people, keep an eye on cerburus159.deviantart.com if you can. So far he only has 5 deviations up but before myself and many others on deviantArt got him stopped, he had 132 loaded up on his now banned account within the space of two weeks - not just fan created art for Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Bioshock, but also word for word codex entries and letters from Mass Effect (copyrights of course belonging there to BioWare and EA) but he had also scanned the Mass Effect: Deception book cover, cropping off the title and author, without giving any credit to either BioWare or the author.

While my deviantArt name is in my signature, for those of you who don't know who I am, I am Dragonwyrd316 there and feel free to contact me if you have any other questions regarding this. Ask Liesel12 - I've been doing my best to keep the deviantArt community updated with this person's actions because art theft is not something I'm tolerant of.  You'll find me at dragonwyrd316.deviantart.com .

While I know I posted earlier, I thought I’d give it a second shot mainly because I realize I might not have come off too well initially.  My intention is not to insult the people who worked on this game because it’s notable how much blood, sweat, and tears went into this game.  For the most part, Mass Effect 3 is beautiful - tugging and twisting at our emotions and making us feel even more invested in the characters and their stories.  I can’t even count how many times I cried while playing it.

With that said, there are some issues that make my experience a bit less than ideal.

First off, it seems as though the ball was dropped a bit when it came to the romances from a good number of the Mass Effect 2 crew.  It’s very noticeable that a lot of time was spent when it came to Liara, Kaidan, and Ashley, as well as two of the 2nd game’s love interests who also had been in the first game - Garrus and Tali.  I understand that many people looked through the art on deviantArt to see where the wind blew as far as the so called ‘popular’ characters, but they were all popular. 

Joker has an enormous fan base.  While I like that the writers have ‘humanized’ EDI more, I don’t see how he would go from considering her to be like a mother, finding her explanation of their relationship to be a symbiotic one creepy, to wanting to romance her as soon as she has a body that would be more appropriate in the videos and stills that he filled up a few zettabytes of space with.  Many of us would have loved to have seen him as a romance option because he’s always been there for Shepard.  I can easily see them working through his guilt over believing he caused Shepard’s death and working toward something deep and meaningful.  I mean heck, a
picture that a good friend of mine drew for me for a fanfic that I write made Judge’s Favorite during the SDCC - it was of my Kara Shepard and Joker sharing a kiss.

Thane - how do I put this into words?  Many of us felt deprived of any true time between him and Shepard if we romanced him in Mass Effect 2.  As Aislinn Trista said in an earlier post, would it have taken much more time to allow him on the Normandy for some time alone with Shepard, allow them a few deep conversations, instead of a hot make-out session in public in a hospital lobby?  With someone as honorable as Thane is, assassin or not, that just seems out of character for him to do something like that.  So much more could have been done with him,
especially with the fact that he was basically the Mass Effect 2 poster boy.

Poor James Vega.  All he gets to do is flirt with Shepard but he never gets to go any further.  More should have been done with him.  He’s ending up with as large of a fan base as the more popular love interests.

Secondly, the endings, while they didn’t upset me as much as they did many others, were just way too similar no matter what decision you made to control, synthesize, destroy, or the decisions you made up to that point.  While having an ending that makes us think and wonder isn’t a bad idea, the way this was handled left us with more questions than answers and gave us no closure.  Do I have any suggestions on how to fix it?  No, other than asking that you please answer the questions that left us scratching our heads (such as how our party members ended up on the Normandy when they had been with our Shepard on Earth, whether Earth is still there after we make our decision, how the destruction of the Mass Relays in any of the choices didn’t end up destroying the majority of the Milky Way, was that entire scene after Harbinger’s attack a dream sequence or not, will our Shepard ever have a happy ending of a sort, etc.).

Thirdly - please don’t make Multiplayer mandatory to get the best end result.  That’s basically how things worked out.  If you want a better EMS you have to play multiplayer, purchase Mass Effect Infiltrator, or download the Mass Effect 3 Datapad.  For people who don’t have the necessary platforms for the applications, or who are not interested in the multiplayer aspect of the game, being stuck at 50% readiness really hurts the game play.  If anything, have it so that by doing multiplayer or having the applications, you can be rewarded with upgrades or extra war assets, but please change it so that people don’t feel obligated to participate in a part of the game that they might not otherwise be interested in just so they can increase their readiness percentage rating.

Lastly, for the moment - what happened to Shockwave?  I was so excited to import my adept into ME3 because that is one of my favorite skills just to find that it really doesn’t do anything anymore.  It looks impressive (love the graphics for it) but even when fully leveled up (including the option to add the lift to it), very rarely does it seem to make a difference.  More often than not I can send a shockwave toward a hostile NPC and it barely even stumbles or slows down.  Add the lift ability to it and maybe 1 out of 7 NPC’s actually end up being lifted into the air.  I miss it being able to do actual damage - watching husks flying this way and that is a great example.  If you have a Shepard running around with L5 implants, they should be able to do a lot more damage with that skill than what
they’re currently doing.

Again, the entire series is just wonderful.  I’d just like to see a few things tweaked here and there to make this last game in the trilogy even more epic than it is.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

(Edited thanks to my post borking when doing a copy/paste from my word processing document.  Computer, y u hate me so?!)

Elanor1 wrote...

Did you guys seen this: www.youtube.com/watch
I'm glad that I haven't seen this in my playtrough. xD
Disturbing...

Ok, anyone who knows me knows how hardcore of a Joker fan I am - got 15 chapters of a story with him and one of my Fem Sheps done, working on more... but I can't stop laughing at that vid.  I actually laughed myself into an asthma attack over it.  And I'm still laughing...

*goes back to watch it again*

Bwahahahahaha!  *rolls*

I was so irked when I realized that they just teased us with Joker like they teased us with Vega. I actually had almost finished Kara's playthrough in ME2 when I ran one of my other Sheps through 3 and got that whole 'regs' shut down from our favorite pilot. Why am I stuck writing fanfic for romances that BioWare won't give us? I say romances, plural, because I'm also starting to work on a Shep/Vega fic as well. It's because of this that I'm actually having a hard time getting back into writing Lost and Found because I was just so let down over the situation. I'm actually more upset over this than I am over the endings that had me scratching my head and going "wtf?" y'know?

Ehh well, guess I'll just work on my Garrus romance playthrough and giggle over popping heat-sinks (still in ME2 for this girl). I'm so hoping that the picture that Yunaito88 drew for me of Kara and Joker didn't get the devs thinking that we were wanting EDI/Joker (since too many thought Kara was EDI due to the blonde hair - trying to make her out to be like Tricia Helfer instead of who she's actually created after - Katie Sackhoff's Starbuck character).

*goes off to grump in her corner*

While I don't have a massive issue about the endings, or the game in general, that a lot of people have, there are some things that really did irk me, and I'm sure some of what I say has already been mirrored by the other posters.

First off - what happened with Joker? He became almost like a bit player, a side player now that EDI has a body. Much less interaction or comments from him compared to the second game. I honestly miss being able to stand behind him for a bit and hear random comments popping out of his mouth. Also, just the fact that it was set up for him to be able to romance EDI. I'm sorry but that's just not right. In ME2 he makes mention that "She's so my mom" and also how creepy it was that she stated that what they had was a symbiotic relationship. Next thing we know he's got a thing for EDI because she now has a body? It doesn't fly for me. Joker is considered one of the 'notable' people with OI, aka Osteogenesis Imperfecta otherwise known as Brittle Bone disease, and to basically pair him up with an artificial intelligence is sending the wrong signal to anyone who isn't considered 'normal'. He's been with Shepard since day one so why not allow that to culminate into a loving relationship? I don't buy the 'regs' excuse he gives Shep because otherwise he never would have left the Alliance and joined Cerberus.  Not to mention, he even says something about him being worried about him and EDI because he could break something just with over the clothes touching - so why pair him up with a body that's nothing but metal and circuitry when someone made of skin and bones, who would actually know how to be gentle, would be a better match?  Otherwise known as Shepard.

Secondly - while the way you handled Thane's death was beautiful, there should have been more interaction between him and Shepard prior to him dying, especially if he was romanced. I mean, c'mon, you can't even get the Paramour achievement to unlock with him. We should have been able to keep going back and visiting him in the hospital and have more than just the usual standard topics to talk to him about. Why couldn't he and Shep have taken a bit of a day trip, allowing him to get out and exercise a bit (which according to the notes in the Shadow Broker's base is what he needs for his lungs), and just spend time with each other?

Thirdly - Vega. You allow him to flirt with female Shep but you don't let him go any further? That's a letdown and a half. You can romance Allers (which I honestly find idiotic) but you can't romance Vega? He's one who I definitely don't see worrying about whether it's breaking regs or not. Between him and Joker, it seems as though most of my fanfiction centers around the characters we can't romance since it's the only way people can feel as if they're getting what BioWare won't give them.

Fourth in line is Cortez. I'm a bit disappointed in how this romance is playing out (and the lack of emails you get from him on the datapad app once you've initiated the romance with him in Purgatory). Whereas the other LI's will have interesting comments, some of them in regards to the romance between them (i.e. Kaidan's comment about "next time... wake me"), all you get is comments regarding the missions or the Kodiak or "Commander" "Sir" etc.

Next in line are the endings. More holes than swiss cheese and confusing enough that I sat there for a good 15 minutes scratching my head and wondering what just happened. Yes, once Harbinger starts attacking, afterward it all seems like a dream sequence which makes me wonder if it's all in my Shepard's head, especially when you hear that the entire team was lost and no one made it to the beam. How is it that Anderson, who supposedly got up to the Citadel after Shepard, reaches the console first? How did the Illusive Man just suddenly appear? How is it that no matter what ending you choose, the relays are destroyed therefore either killing everything in all those star systems (think back to Arrival and how the Alpha Relay's destruction destroyed that system) or leaving everyone stranded - which for the quarians and turians who cannot survive off of human food, if there's even enough of Earth left standing to even cultivate food, would be akin to a most painful death by starvation. Why weren't we allowed to have an ending where there was a chance of Shepard finally getting his/her "sunshine and bunnies" life that they'd been trying to give to everyone else by going after Saren, Sovereign, the heretics, the Collectors, the Reapers, etc.?

And now on to my biggest gripe. Multiplayer. We were told from the beginning that, while it would help with galactic readiness, it wouldn't harm us if we chose to play strictly single player. I call hax on that. When I'm stuck at 50% readiness because I'm not much of a multiplayer person and it halves my total strength therefore leaving me with no chance of my Shepard living, I have issues. Why should I be penalized, my game penalized, because I don't want to run around fighting 10 waves of hostiles just to increase my readiness by 4% each mission - if I'm lucky enough to survive all waves and get that 4%? Why should any of us feel as though we have to play multiplayer, or get ME: Infiltrator, or the ME3 Datapad (which actually I enjoy that because of the personal emails you get from those people whom you've 'unlocked') just to get a better readiness percentage score and therefore a chance at that 'secret' ending of seeing someone breathe for a second? That makes no sense to me.

Otherwise, this game was fantastic. I'd just like to see the issues I brought forth taken care of, or at least some sort of nod given that my thoughts were even noticed (though I doubt I'll get any kind of response). Even though I just lost my job, if these were fixed in some sort of DLC, I'd find some way to buy it just so I have a game I'm completely happy with.

Alexander Riker wrote...

People!
Recently we have a group. So you can add.

http://social.biowar...oup/7052/#group

And....
I would like to thank everyone who has applied to petition.
Thank you all for helping us fulfill the dreams of all.

As Namira said above me, the picture you used for the poll belongs to someone else.  I happen to be that someone else as it was a gift created for me by a friend on deviantArt.  I am asking that you please remove it since you did not ask my permission to use it.  I'd really appreciate it, thank you.

Thanks for trying Omega. I honestly think I have to step away from this thread for a while because of all this. When people's emotions are affecting my ability to step into my favorite couple and write, that's when I need to back up and go elsewhere. Doesn't hurt that the Chicago Comic Con is coming up next week and I'll be spending my time there... and anyone who might be there and interested in meeting up, feel free to contact me and we'll set something up.

Until I feel like this is a 'healthy' place to be again, to where it won't affect my writing, anyone who wants to say hi can either PM me here or catch me on deviantArt - my profile link is in my sig.

I seriously think you guys are taking this far out of proportion. You don't know what was said. You don't know if it's something she can make mention of or not - and honestly, since she doesn't work for BioWare, even though she somehow was special enough to make it on what's his nutz's private list, Sorrel can say whatever she wants. As far as I know, there's no confidentiality contract you have to sign just to get on someone's tweet list, no matter who the person is.

You're working yourselves up over something you don't even know about and spreading the paranoia. And honestly? This is really killing my ability to step into Kara and Joker right now for their story because of all of the negativity going on over here. I come here to share the Joker love and try to shout loud and proud that he's my favorite NPC and that I want him as an LI but this... this is just beyond depressing what you guys are just assuming.

And what someone mentioned before... even though the person made his tweets private, he still has non BioWare personnel on his list, so he cannot, in all honesty, say anything in regards to the game that might spoil things for the fan and player base because that would be the same thing to making it public - and I'm sure those who are all "Oh Joker's for EDI" or "Better make sure you don't break Joker's pelvis" would really be shouting stuff in here because I'm sure one of them probably made it on that guy's list as well.

/rant

Letting yourselves get all worked up over this isn't going to help or change matters. I'm not going to let it freak me out because everything was so vague. We don't know what the tweets were about, and this is also why I don't use twitter because there's not much you can put into each little comment with only a 140 character limit. Let it go and focus on the positives. I'm still going to stay hopeful for our Jokermance.

I'm taking Dr. Cox's No because that'll fit well in between all of the cussing I'll be doing at the same time lol.

Victia wrote...

Omega Torsk wrote...

If we don't get a Jokermance, Bioware is going to be perplexed as to why some guy in his early 20's is going to be standing outside their Edmonton headquarters doing this.

Bioware employee 1: He's still out there, man!
Bioware employee 2: What's he doing?
Bioware employee 1: I don't know, but he's been saying that to our front door for two hours, now!

XD

Disclaimer: This post is intended to be humorous! 

I will be there to lend my moral support and any fisty-cuffs back up that you need

Count me in as well!  I already told a lot of my friends on dA (and they're with me too) that I will lead a charge to their office if we don't get our Jokermance so expect a long line of people behind me

FlamingFlyingV wrote...

Victia wrote...

England too  so I will be waiting around to hear either an almighty squee or something that should not be said in polite company to resonate from America and I will have my answer

Edit - if joker isnt a LI then i think we are looking at this  in unison coming from around the world

I think you just summed up the reaction for every Jokermancer XP

I second that!

Though I think my NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO would be going on for a lot longer than the 5 minutes of that clip or the 11 minutes of the ultimate No clip on Youtube.  Plus it would most definitely be interspersed with many, MANY words that would definitely not be fit for polite company - actually they wouldn't even be fit for sailors since I'm sure I'd have their ears burning as well if I don't get my Jokermance.

Reason why?  My Kara Shepard would be screaming right along with me and the Joker in my head would have to grab hold of her and keep her from running off and giving those at BW and EA a huge what for.