345 réponses à ce sujet

[AlanC9]

Bethseda and CD Projekt Red rival Bioware, as does Obsidian. 

Not really impressed with Bethesda these days, myself. Put in my time with Skyrim, but I'm not sorry I waited until it cost $5 to get it.

[AlleyD]

What I meant by that is that marketing usually tries to lower the age rating of the game, just like the movies where more popularity is gained if the age rating is lower because more people can go watch it. Part of it is that some parents will buy a game rated 15 to their 12-14 year olds but they will not buy a game rated 18 even if the only difference between those games would not be the amount of blood on the screen or lack of criminal acts but rather some references to sex or slight nudity. 

And there is still a large population of couch gamers(read console) who buy titles like COD or Battlefield, FIFA to play with their friends and they have no interest in story or any kind of themes in the game. The whole option of switching Shepard into NARRATIVE mode was an appeal to them. Not that I am against games like that, I love Uncharted series and Tomb Raider. 

And you are right more people than ever are buying games like DA, Witcher, Fallout but considering that those games first installements(by their current studios) came out 7-8 years ago there is a whole generation of teenagers who grew up with them it is to be expected. 

And you must agree that the time spent on narrative mode or digitising that ign reported could have been spent on polishing up other things, for example the whole Tali face reveal, you must agree that the photoshopped image was quite badly done, non-professionals took ten minutes and did a better job. The colourless "dancers" in the club in citadel, I mean come on, how long would have it taken them to put colour textures on them? And the list goes on and not just for ME3. 

 

I do not understand how that perception relates to Mass Effect, which was always teen focussed from its inception. In my home market (UK), ME1 is rated as a 12. There was a concern in 2009 about ME2 and ME3 being classed as an 18 under the PEGI rating system, but the games were able to retain a 15 rating.  

 

I think that EA will recognize that attempting to position Mass Effect into the COD/Battlefield/Destiny/Star Wars Battlefront market would be a risky policy. The market is saturated and they would be competing against some of their own major products that have far more brand take up support and wider mainstream footprint than Mass Effect. Yes, ME3 M/P was a fun addition to the portfolio that showed some promise that Bioware could develop a fulfilling M/P experience, but the brand equity of the Bioware brand was built on S/P demands which were perceived to have been negatively impacted in the series

 

No analyst I've read believes Fallout 4's success is that simple, There is an undeniable influence of long term brand support that could account for the majority of Fallout 4 early sales, but Bethesda and outside analysts are commenting more on  how effective the marketing was. Bethesda stated that their future policy would follow that marketing model, that a trusted brand better services the market, and protects the franchise to a large degree by adopting a shorter lead time to the marketing and revealing the product to the consumer when it is virtually ready for market. That strategy surprised the consumer and avoided the type of nonsense, anxiety and negativity that is creeping into the social media presence of other brands, eg Bioware.

 

For me, the most telling stat was the Witcher 3 take up figure of new players. According to CDPR's figures Sept 2015. Witcher  1 sales (2007) (760,127), Witcher 2 2011/12 (1,430,000), Witcher 3 (6,014,576). CDPR managed to attract over 4.5 million consumers to the brand in the 3rd installment of a trilogy, over 3 times the number of previous consumers to the brand.

 

I think that todays gamers are moving more towards cinematic action/rpg games that have adult themes. They are already serviced for other genres adequately, but there are exceptionally few developers capable of servicing that market. Bioware were first mover in that field to a large degree but they made a lot of decisions in the franchise strategy that, retrospectively, severely impacted on the brand attachments their consumers had for the franchise and parent brand.

 

I totally agree that Tali's reveal was exceptionally badly executed. She was a key brand attachment point for a lot of consumers and Bioware did not service one of the most important needs of that attachment, what she looks like without the mask. That lack of focus on a key character and brand icon is very hard to understand, let alone attempt to justify. Another art decision that caused me to pause was EDI's VCT. It may be a cultural aversion because VCT's are a shaming mechanism, but I could see no positive justification to that art choice.

 

But bashing ME:A is something I am not into. I do not believe in carrying over the decisions made by executives in one generation onto their successors, especially when they have followed through on building competitive, entertaining computer games. Mass Effect has little real competition and I simply hope it is an entertaining game.

[Giantdeathrobot]

 

 

"For me none other  games rivels Bioware despite not generating blockbuster sales numbers."

Bethseda and CD Projekt Red rival Bioware, as does Obsidian. 

 

 

I'll give you Obsidian and CD Projeckt, but Bethesda? Their writing is way below what the other big three offer. 

[Sartoz]

They just need a better trailer full of action with some tear jerk moments mixed in. That with an awesome background song, I think ME:A would draw in a large crowd.

I never knew about mass effect until a friend brought me on to it, which is quite late. I think they could benefit immensely from a better marketing campaign.

                                                                                                  <<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>

 

Well, as long as Mike Laidlaw is not part of that campaign. His famous "it's a PC game for PC gamers by PC gamers" is still stuck in my craw.

[Gambit458]

I'll give you Obsidian and CD Projeckt, but Bethesda? Their writing is way below what the other big three offer. 

Sure Beth's writing isn't the best but they more than make up for it in other areas. Fallout 3 never had an outstanding story but it was a fun experience that few games can match. Fallout 4 isn't really an RPG anymore, imo, but it was incredibly fun for what it was. Regardless of what people's personal opinions are of them, their success is indeed worthy of being able to rival Bioware. 

[katamuro]

 

But bashing ME:A is something I am not into. I do not believe in carrying over the decisions made by executives in one generation onto their successors, especially when they have followed through on building competitive, entertaining computer games. Mass Effect has little real competition and I simply hope it is an entertaining game.

 

I also hope that they won't be intimidated by fans, their own marketing department, EA or people who used to formerly work on ME to do anything. I want the new team to do their best and to bring their vision of updated ME to us. And I hope that it will be at least as good as DAI, ME1-2 or even ME3(if they had taken more time and haven't done that mistake)

[Kabooooom]

The multiplayer was made by a different team, after all we had it in almost complete form when they released ME3 demo. So basically there were 2 parallel teams, one working on singleplayer and one on multiplayer.
Yeah I think that the marketing team is pushing the whole "appeal to the wider audience" too much. RPG's especially ones with mature themes don't really appeal to a wider audience. Some people would end up buying it just for the multiplayer like people have done with Battlefield or COD. The thing is they need to stay strong and not simplify the story or the SP aspects of the game just because they want people who have never played such games to have full access to story.

I'm aware they were made by two different teams, but I dont see how two different teams could be allotted equal time, equal money, and equal resources for development. I suppose in a perfect world they would, but if EA wants them to emphasis multiplayer, single player will probably suffer as a result.

But maybe I am pessimistic.

[Battlebloodmage]

Beth is actually trying with Fallout 4, they try to focus more on the characters and personal story and relationship with NPCs. The NPCs actually have personality and personal background and stories like Haylen, Maxson, Virgil. Granted, they're still crap compared to other companies, but they're trying. I find myself care about the characters more and actually feel bad about killing any of them instead of Skyrim, where I just shrug whenever I receive an inheritance letter. The companions have a lot to say, and it's fun to bring them around instead of generic lines they often have for the companions in Skyrim. Their execution is very poor, but it's their first time, it's just as DAI, it's DA Bioware's first attempt at Openworld, and I personally find them to fail at it miserably. I'm hoping they both can learn how to incorporate the story better into an open world game. 

[von uber]

Oh that the Alliance has current tech levels is ok. A bit farfetched perhaps, but well, unless they wanted humanity to be space Bangladesh, they had to do something to provide current tech level. There is enough lampshade with  the prothean archives and tech trade/gifts. They joined the Citadel species after all and it seems that you get a whole bunch of stuff then. It´s just rather unnecessary to let the Alliance win against anything bigger than a reinforced patrol of frigates and a few cruisers.That Goyle was able to issue a threat which wasn´t an empty threat was way into haha, LOL, territory.

If I was mastering a ME RPG setting and one of my players went bonkers like this, I would have told him "unless you want to have this Earth Alliance to have their own very special version of B5´s Battle of the Line, apologize, resign your post and let your assistant tell the council that it seems you have sudden health issues."

 

One of my big bug bears with the way the galaxy is set up is that based on numbers given for the planet entries (and yes I know it doesn't cover most colonies, but generally the largest) it pretty much makes humanity the most numerous species via earth alone..

[Gago]

Of course it is going to be a hit. Will it be good is another question. I hope to see MEA delivers and then some. 

 

ME3 was awesome, easily my fav in the trilogy. Also, as far as I have seen, literally everyone who played ME3 post EC had no problem with the endings. 

[Master Warder Z_]

That Goyle was able to issue a threat which wasn´t an empty threat was way into haha, LOL, territory.

 

 

I never thought so, given you had humanity already settling into a primary settling faction of the lesser controlled portions of the galaxy that the aliens wanted nothing to do with, their fleets, military and economic presence brought stability and order to regions of space that the council had overlooked for centuries. The fact you want to dismiss the importance that of a insertion of a new economic power into a existing system is your onus.

 

The military threat is inconsequential compared to the importance of humanity when it comes to their economic impact and colonization. It just doesn't hurt they have the largest military outside of the council races. Maybe you should actually read the passage in question to actually grasp the meaning of what Goyle said, when the council was threatening to censure Earth, I mean it was a gamble, but then the aliens had basically threatened embargo's that would cripple the Alliance. It didn't hurt that even back then human corporations and interests were already on the Citadel and being established across the galaxy, a decade is a long time for the Alliance to do literally nothing after being granted a embassy.

 

I look at it through the lens of the presented narrative: Humanity was granted a embassy shortly after the First Contact War, they have had ten years to build relations, economic presence and industry across the galaxy.

[Giantdeathrobot]

Sure Beth's writing isn't the best but they more than make up for it in other areas. Fallout 3 never had an outstanding story but it was a fun experience that few games can match. Fallout 4 isn't really an RPG anymore, imo, but it was incredibly fun for what it was. Regardless of what people's personal opinions are of them, their success is indeed worthy of being able to rival Bioware. 

 

That's up to personal opinion, I suppose. I actually liked Skyrim a lot, but FO4 was worse than more or less any Bioware game I ever played, and didn't even come close to their best efforts. It wasn't a terrible game, but on the level of Bioware's best, or TW3, or New Vegas? nah.

[straykat]

Of course it is going to be a hit. Will it be good is another question. I hope to see MEA delivers and then some. 

 

ME3 was awesome, easily my fav in the trilogy. Also, as far as I have seen, literally everyone who played ME3 post EC had no problem with the endings. 

 

I played post EC. I never minded the endings either way though.

 

The game sucks elsewhere (not necessarily the endings) because I like ME2.. as do many people. It's still their most popular game. ME3 is made for entirely different people. Apparently, they're incapable of serving all the fans they won over before.

[Gago]

I played post EC. I never minded the endings either way though.

 

The game sucks elsewhere (not necessarily the endings) because I like ME2.. as do many people. It's still their most popular game. ME3 is made for entirely different people. Apparently, they're incapable of serving all the fans they won over before.

 

I mentioned the endings because that is the primary source of hate. 

[straykat]

I mentioned the endings because that is the primary source of hate. 

 

I think it's the primary source of drama. But not sure to what extent it really disappoints a lot of people. They should have been bummed much earlier, I say.

[Dantriges]

I never thought so, given you had humanity already settling into a primary settling faction of the lesser controlled portions of the galaxy that the aliens wanted nothing to do with, their fleets, military and economic presence brought stability and order to regions of space that the council had overlooked for centuries. The fact you want to dismiss the importance that of a insertion of a new economic power into a existing system is your onus.

 

...The military threat is inconsequential compared to the importance of humanity when it comes to their economic impact and colonization. ...

 

Humanity was granted a embassy shortly after the First Contact War, they have had ten years to build relations, economic presence and industry across the galaxy.

 

So they let the humans settle the space equivalent of Togo, Kamerun and other stuff, nobody but the batarians wanted? Smart move. Quite a lot of the colonies in the imperial era were a net drain. Humanity had a few minor colonies, the others had colonies running for centuries or millenia.

 

Ten years isn´t much.

[AlanC9]

I
The game sucks elsewhere (not necessarily the endings) because I like ME2.. as do many people. It's still their most popular game. ME3 is made for entirely different people.

Which different people?

[Neverwinter_Knight77]

I was willing to look past ME3's other faults if the ending was good.  Despite the lack of dialog choices, I was having a blast.  Unfortunately the ending turned out to be so world shatteringly bad that it tarnished the entire Mass Effect brand and Bioware as a whole, in my eyes.  I was shocked, confused, sad, but mostly enraged.  I only have DA:I because it was $30 and I was dying to get my hands on the character creator.

[Seraphim24]

It really just depends on what it is... which given the lack of info no one really knows.

 

If it really is MP focused or something and it's like Mass Effect Battlefront that could possibly be a serious problem.

 

If it's like a resounding classic Bioware game, affirming their substantial values, then yeah it could totally be a hit.

[katamuro]

It really just depends on what it is... which given the lack of info no one really knows.

 

If it really is MP focused or something and it's like Mass Effect Battlefront that could possibly be a serious problem.

 

If it's like a resounding classic Bioware game, affirming their substantial values, then yeah it could totally be a hit.

 

I think there will be MP but its going to be something similar to what we have in ME3. 

There is another possibility and that they could integrate a coop game. I doubt it but they could go the way the Borderlands had. 

But considering that DAI had a very strong story focus and that the MP seems really just a combat addon and since most people reacted quite positively to DAI as we can see from the sales figures. 

[ZipZap2000]

I think there will be MP but its going to be something similar to what we have in ME3.
There is another possibility and that they could integrate a coop game. I doubt it but they could go the way the Borderlands had.
But considering that DAI had a very strong story focus and that the MP seems really just a combat addon and since most people reacted quite positively to DAI as we can see from the sales figures.

I'm hoping for some sort of 2 player co-op, something similar to Armax Arena but in MP. Compete for high scores against another player. You could even throw in a level against Shep clones like the original Armax, I know that round was a monster to beat on Insane and I want that rush all over again.

[turuzzusapatuttu]

                                                                                                  <<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>

 

Well, as long as Mike Laidlaw is not part of that campaign. His famous "it's a PC game for PC gamers by PC gamers" is still stuck in my craw.

 

Best tagline ever, you must admit.

[Sartoz]

I think there will be MP but its going to be something similar to what we have in ME3. 

There is another possibility and that they could integrate a coop game. I doubt it but they could go the way the Borderlands had. 

But considering that DAI had a very strong story focus and that the MP seems really just a combat addon and since most people reacted quite positively to DAI as we can see from the sales figures. 

                                                                                                  <<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>

 

Just to brighten things up, subtracting the pre-order sales from the available sales number will paint a different picture. Add the hillarious number of people who complained to the EA support centre DA:I forums plus the 800 pages in the PC Community Concerns forum (DA:I), the gamers with the old gen consoles and I cannot quite come up with "... people reacted quite positively..."

 

Marketing appears to be a pseudo-science that endevours to be as close as possible to a lie but never crossing it. As such, the DA:I pitch was the Templar-Mages War and the Civil War in Orlais, the Demon Breach in the sky and hell is about to break loose unless the Inquisitor with his Inquisition forces take control of the situation.  There was one place were the Templars and Mages fought and lol they kept re-spawining.... so much for that story arc. The Civil War? Again, laughable in its implementation..... I measure this against the marketing pitch, remember? The Big Bad?.... pitiful, until the DLCs came out (not Spoils of the Avvar). Casssadra's romance? a quest  (only one I was interested).

 

Anyway, you are right in that EA will not green light any game without an online component. So, yes, ME:A will have MP... possibly a co-op, hybrid of a sort or something new. Expect micro$transactions.  Last, while I enjoyed the ME series in general, I will wait until ME:A is on sale and see what kind of PC controls are implemented before I buy (courtesy of DA:I and it's marketing).

[Seraphim24]

I think there will be MP but its going to be something similar to what we have in ME3. 

There is another possibility and that they could integrate a coop game. I doubt it but they could go the way the Borderlands had. 

But considering that DAI had a very strong story focus and that the MP seems really just a combat addon and since most people reacted quite positively to DAI as we can see from the sales figures. 

 

Yeah... but the thing is DAI was based really on the Dragon Age world (er, on some level), and things that were kind of ignited in many ways in previous games, and this continued all the way through the DLC for that game.

 

MEA is seemingly by design a completely different thing, which means it could be a completely different thing, but also something there is currently no knowledge concerning it.

 

To be honest, I'm not really going to be holding my breath, there are other things that occupy my energy and interest and when they release a substantial trailer or something or have a big info dump, can see the deal then, perhaps, if I remember at this rate I'll just forget the game was even going to come out.

[Giubba]

                                                                                                  <<<<<<<<<<(0)>>>>>>>>>>

 

Well, as long as Mike Laidlaw is not part of that campaign. His famous "it's a PC game for PC gamers by PC gamers" is still stuck in my craw.

 

It's still stuck in mine that cretines still do not understand that all this charade was due to the express will to said PC player that wanted controller support in their PC version.