Ads! Yes ads. BioWare has taken a new approach to incline a user into selecting multiplayer in DA:I. That would be the new “Buy One Get One” stylized sticker on your main menu. Reminiscent of the glorified advertisements one would expect to see while entering a store. Tasteful? Absolutely not. Necessary? Arguable.
Why isn't it tasteful? Well, the main menu paints this wonderful scene for someone coming into the game from the previous lore. The main menu does a good job of setting up the game before you even begin playing. Which to be honest isn't seen all that often. So now, on this backdrop of desperate hope, we have this advertisement plastered on the right side of the screen. It's detracting from the setup, but that alone is not why I think it's bad form. It initializes the thought that MP is more important. It should be just as important. But this sticker clearly wants you to lean in a particular fashion. This next point may be quibbling but other titles employ this tactic of main menu advertisement. They are called Apps and F2P games. I don't want to have to associate this game with that idea.
Necessary? This can be a bit specious as I assume this decision is based on several thoughts. First is kind of positive... I guess. MP is struggling to maintain an active player base and as such needs to usher in more players. Second which is sad but realistic... they want you to (ab)use the micro-transaction system in place in MP. There are probably other reasons I cannot imagine at the moment and it's probably a murky mix of all them. Regardless, I understand the plight and the want to draw more attendees. But must you pollute the excellent visual you have set up with a garish neon sign?
Spoiler
I'll offer as a compromise and suggestion - so that we can maintain the clarity of the menu and still offer a visual cue towards the multiplayer option. The almighty asterisk! Behold her subtle glory [" * "]. The catch all of “I should look into why that's there”. I'll click it to get rid of it. What's this multiplayer option doing with an asterisk? And there's plenty of actually funny statements one could make to get people into MP. I'll accept this level of not-so-subtle deception. Just please return the main menu to it's original form.
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