27765 réponses à ce sujet

[chris2365]

ElitePinecone wrote...

bayofangels wrote...

The positive to take from all this is that BioWare appears focused on doing what it can to reinforce the core series as fans want - and early snippets from MENext seem to agree (planetary exploration, deeper RPG stuff, new races) while distancing itself from the Shepard arc.

This is very true, though I'm always wary of taking "the fans" as some kind of hive-mind - there's danger in assuming a consensus flows out of a comparatively tiny number of die-hard people. We can't discount the fact that there seems to be a market for deeper, more exploratory games (hello, Skyrim, Far Cry 3) which EA is trying to tap into, and Montreal themselves could have ideas that neatly happen to align with what you or I find appealing. 

That said, if the early plans *were* changed from a first-person (?!) shooter with reduced RPG elements (!?) and a focus on competitive multiplayer (?!?), that seems like a very good thing. I still don't have much faith in what this person is saying, but I suppose we'll find out sooner or later. 

(Hopefully sooner.)

One thing I don't get is why they would even have gone for a FPS with reduced RPG elements to begin with. They know that some fans didn't like the streamlining of RPG features in ME2 and ME3 and we all know that the FPS market is oversaturated to begin with. Why take something unique like the Mass Effect trilogy and turn it into Generic Space Shooter No.2176?

The ending backlash no doubt changed their plans. They obviously had no intention of adressing the ending initially (at least not for free), and the rest of the DLC they released was made mostly to fix things wrong with the ending (not enough time to say goodbye (Citadel), not enough foreshadowing (Leviathan)). Most probably they had an intention for a prequel or midquel, but fan reaction might have changed their plans, especially with some polls showing support for a sequel

I guess if the ending backlash gave us one thing, it'll be a true Mass Effect game. From all of the hatred and raging that occured, maybe we'll find a game that we'll love just as much as the trilogy, and maybe it'll be the best Mass Effect game yet;)

[Malanek]

Just some comments. I don't really think its likely they had any firm plans of where to take the series when ME3 shipped. They may have had individual thoughts on the matter but I doubt they had sat down, discussed it and made a decision as a group and then changed their plans.

As for a release being too close to DAI to consider, 6 months is more than enough. They would not deliberately hold back a game for this reason, it is much, much more costly to do so. I'm not really sure when the game will come out, I'm hoping for around March 2015, suspect September 2015 is more likely but would be a bit disappointed if it drifted to 2016.

Edit : Just read the Sachel comments on the links. Definitely something to consider, sonds legit, actually somewhat worried now. If there was a change it could explain what I consider a delay in getting started. Still its completely speculating where even correct information could get scrambled in different ways.

Modifié par Malanek999, 21 janvier 2014 - 02:44 .

[chris2365]

Malanek999 wrote...

Just some comments. I don't really think its likely they had any firm plans of where to take the series when ME3 shipped. They may have had individual thoughts on the matter but I doubt they had sat down, discussed it and made a decision as a group and then changed their plans.

As for a release being too close to DAI to consider, 6 months is more than enough. They would not deliberately hold back a game for this reason, it is much, much more costly to do so. I'm not really sure when the game will come out, I'm hoping for around March 2015, suspect September 2015 is more likely but would be a bit disappointed if it drifted to 2016.

True for the first part. They didn't know what their options were, but I'm sure none of them considered ''after the ME3 ending a possibilty'' Maybe while they were making the EC, they figured ''well, now that more things about the ending are more set in stone and less 'speculation for everyone', there's a chance we can make a sequel that won't detonate a nuclear bomb on the Internet.'' This obviously wasn't a possibilty when ME3 first released.

As for the second part, it's possible. While they might both be RPGs, one while be a third-person action RPG set in space while the other will be a fantasy setting with tactical combat. They are different enough so that if they released close they probably wouldn't steal each others sales.

[ElitePinecone]

I just think that after the way people reacted to ME3, sitting down to make a first-person shooter with a focus on multiplayer and less RPG customisation sounds absurd.

Like, completely, totally, implausible. Exactly the opposite of what the studio would do if it were trying to get back into everybody's good books. What reasonable group of developers would do that?

And it totally doesn't match up with what they've been hinting about for the past year or so - a game with exploration and customisation at its heart.

[Hrungr]

Bioware Edmonton is looking to hire a Development Director for the Mass Effect franchise.

[Iakus]

The position is for Edmonton. Montreal is making the next Mass Effect game.

More likely it's for the mysterious third IP

[Hrungr]

iakus wrote...

The position is for Edmonton. Montreal is making the next Mass Effect game.

More likely it's for the mysterious third IP

This is the tweet from Bioware's Lead Recruiter.

Masah Kalugin @Masah_K
Exciting opportunity to work on the #MassEffect Franchise as a Development Director out of our Edmonton location!

Modifié par Hrungr, 21 janvier 2014 - 05:22 .

[Shermos]

It's good to see this thread come alive again. Yeah, there are not many tweets, but the discussion is related to them.I for one like reading everyone's thoughts and analysis. If I just wanted to see the Tweet's, I'd go to Twitter directly.

Going back to the discussion about release, I only said I thought the developers were aiming for a March 2015 release. It's entirely possible there could be a delay which pushes it back to later in the year. I think one of the main reasons for ME3's delay was the script leak. The leak happened before the delay was announced right? If that was the case, it's a good bet that fan reaction prompted Bioware to make a few last minute changes.

I disagree with the people predicting a 2016 release though. It just won't take that long. Not with the work the DAI developers have passed onto Montreal to give them a head start. Also, someone made an argument that Mass Effect won't release close ti DAI because it would be a bad business strategy. I disagree. DA and ME appeal to slightly different audiences. And from the point of view of the average gamer (most of us here are far from average lol), 4+ months is plenty of time between releases.

[MR CauSe iM GoD]

I think I would rather it be released in 2016 rather than 2015. The later the better. More time to prepare the game, no rush, no problem.

[ElitePinecone]

Hrungr wrote...
This is the tweet from Bioware's Lead Recruiter.

Masah Kalugin @Masah_K
Exciting opportunity to work on the #MassEffect Franchise as a Development Director out of our Edmonton location!

I think a development director coordinates different teams from an overall perspective, judging by this blog post from a while ago from a Development Director on ME3.

Presumably there are enough people at Edmonton working on the game that they'd need someone in that position? Hard to say. 

(And I think ex-Gears of War producer Chris Wynn is the Senior Development Director working out of Montreal, so presumably he's higher up in the food chain of development, to use a weird metaphor.)

[Shermos]

MR CauSe iM GoD wrote...

I think I would rather it be released in 2016 rather than 2015. The later the better. More time to prepare the game, no rush, no problem.

A March 2015 release would give the devs plenty of time imo. The game has been in serious development for most of 2013 already. A large and well funded team can get it done well in that time. And if there's a problem, they can always push back the date another 6 months. It's not like they have a date announced yet, only what we can guess is a target.

And I really don't want to have to wait until 2016 lol.

ME3 didn't go as well as it could have because the team got a bit over ambitious, and didn't plan the series out very well. They had so many plot lines to tie off and all the possibilities from the suicide mission in ME2 to deal with. Then there was leak. This time, the devs have a lot more experience and lessons learned. Also, ME3 was a HUGE game content wise. I can see that having played through a few different Shepards. Don't expect NME to be so big. Ouy playthroughs might take the same amount of time or longer, but a lot of that will be likely be driving through worlds as in in ME1.  

Modifié par Shermos, 21 janvier 2014 - 02:31 .

[Lady Sif]

Jay Watamaniuk@JayWatamaniuk: More first pass writing today. Moving Monday's work into the toolset today. #fingerscrossed

Jay Watamaniuk@JayWatamaniuk: Alas, no toolset love. MS Word again today. #Space!

Modifié par Rachel73, 21 janvier 2014 - 04:40 .

[ElitePinecone]

If anything, I think NME sounds way *more* ambitious. They're breaking away from an existing trilogy, inventing a whole new story arc, switching to a new engine, making the game for new consoles - possibly *only* for new consoles - it's Bioware Montreal's first full game *and* every single preview article on the entire planet is going to compare this game with its predecessors. Why on earth would they aim low?

Look at the gulf between DA:O or DA2 and what Inquisition is shaping up like - not just graphically, but the ambition and scale of what they're doing. Aaryn Flynn said just the other day that they're aiming for a similar scope and level of investment for the next Mass Effect. Given the relative critical and sales reception of both series, I wouldn't be surprised if EA favours Mass Effect as an IP and actually gives it more money and attention.

If they're bringing back explorable worlds, that demands an enormous amount of content - people and professional critics just won't be satisfied with ME1-style crazy mountains that have a probe every five kilometres. Driving for ten minutes without doing anything won't be as well-received in 2015 as it was in 2007, and it wasn't even well-received in 2007.

[Nitrocuban]

Holiday season 2015 is my guess.
And I'd rather wait for a decent game till late 2016 instead of a rushed early 2015 release.
BW hopefully learned its lesson about the reactions to ME3's rather ... unpolished story.

[chris2365]

 For those talking about a 2016 release, I highly doubt it'll take that long, considering that:

ME1 took about 4 years, starting on a new console, an unfamiliar engine (UE3) and they had to create an entire universe and detail its lore, from scratch. ME1 took the hit for the last generation. Now, they are getting the RPG stuff setup by Edmonton for DAI and they'll get pointers on the engine. They don't have to recreate an entire universe (I'm sure they'll reuse most of the lore, seeing as they are calling it familiar.)

So what is left to suck up the time? ME2 was considered as excellent by most fans and had only 2 1/2 years of developpement. So add an extra year to make sure the game runs flawless on next-gen consoles and all of the story and gameplay aspects get all the features they deserve.

ME3 (March 2012) --> ME Next (Q4 2015). There would be 3 and 1/2 years separating the two games. Almost as much as ME1. It's a bit like saying that coming up with the entire Star Wars universe + Episode 4 gets as much developpement time as Episode 5 alone. Plenty enough time to get everything working, considering their ambitious scope.

Giving a game extra developpement time doesn't guaratee a better game. Like all of us hardcore fans here on BSN, we'd like Bioware to take all the time they need to make this game a masterpiece, and it looks like they are taking it. We probably have that reaction because of the controversies considering DA2 and ME3, rumors that they were rushed. They are putting extra time into it now, we just need to be confident that they can deliver.

Two quotes game devs often say that apply to this situation:

''A game with no release date or budget is a game that will never ship''

''If I gave a consumer their personnal RPG dream game with every feature they could want masterfully made, they would complain about the color of the box''

Modifié par chris2365, 21 janvier 2014 - 09:51 .

[Shermos]

About worlds being more detailed. I'd expect them to be a lot more detailed and beautiful than ME1 worlds for sure, but they don't have to put enormous amounts of work into every single corner of the map, only in key areas.

Also, from what I can tell, Frostbite 3 seems to be a lot easier to work with than the Unreal engine was. ME3 was asking for a lot of things Unreal was never intended to deliver, even with the customisations which were built in. That's partly what I meant about being over ambitious. That and allowing the decisions tree to become a tangled and hugely complicated mess.

Modifié par Shermos, 22 janvier 2014 - 02:55 .

[Hrungr]

Allegra Clark ‏@SimplyAllegra:
Whenever I share bad news with my fellow Lead, I bring Tiny Garrus to soften the blow. I mean, look at…



Cameron Lee ‏@Cameron__Lee:
Holy crap, I need a few of those.

David Gaider ‏@davidgaider:
I suspect @Mike_Laidlaw could have used a Tiny Garrus or two last week.

Allegra Clark ‏@SimplyAllegra:
The trick is to hide behind something while Tiny Garrus shares the news in a tiny, adorable voice.

Modifié par Hrungr, 22 janvier 2014 - 03:52 .

[Lady Sif]

Jay Watamaniuk ‏@JayWatamaniuk
Working on possible names for characters. #huge #important

Ian S. Frazier ‏@tibermoon
@JayWatamaniuk You forgot #space

Jay Watamaniuk ‏@JayWatamaniuk
@tibermoon #Space!

[Malanek]

Someone on twitter should ask for the working names that wont make it to the final product assuming they have any. Thats the sort of thing they should be safely able to share.

Modifié par Malanek999, 23 janvier 2014 - 02:05 .

[Nitrocuban]

Fishstick wrote...

They probably won't release anything significant for a while. The best we can hope for at this point is more blurry images.

Would be ok with that. The more blurry the better to speculate :happy:

[SwobyJ]

Fishstick wrote...

They probably won't release anything significant for a while. The best we can hope for at this point is more blurry images.

Highly surprised if E3 2014 (5 months from now) doesn't have at least a teaser trailer (even if DAI may have more information and footage).

5 months is kind of a while, but as long as you keep yourself busy, it's not much time at all.

[Lady Sif]

Michael Gamble ‏@GambleMike
. @YanickRRoy and I were lucky enough to get a sneak peek on some amazing new level environments today. Wow!

Michael Gamble[/b] ‏@GambleMike13m“@user: COMMANDER SHEPPER WHAT R U DOIN
I didn't expect THIS in an Old Spice ad lmao!

Modifié par Rachel73, 24 janvier 2014 - 04:16 .

[Lawrence0294]

Is this a leaked image of the ending of next Mass Effect ?

[B.Shep]

What the hell I just saw....

Modifié par B.Shep, 25 janvier 2014 - 05:28 .

[BassStyles]

It has red in the background... Destroy canonized sequel confirmed. :-P