Mass Effect 3 - - Part 11

[Upset Spideyfan]

Very well!

In that spirit:

[Speedball]

I'm so addicted to multiplayer now. My Galaxy at War rating is at 99% now, would have been 100% if the last game didn't have two people bail on us.
And Gold is INTENSE! I got to level 20 with my Asari Vanguard, so I played a round. I don't think I've ever seen something with so much going on all at once. We were doing great in that games too until someone decided to leave their controller.

Now I'm quickly leveling up my Quarian Infiltrator.

[Upset Spideyfan]

I'm still a little afraid to jump into Gold based on what I've heard people say about it.

[Master Chief]

A team of lvl 20 Turian Sentinels w/ chain overload against the geth on a tight map... easy creds.

Originally Posted by Upset Spideyfan

I mean when you consider that DLC generally cost 10-15 dollars; assuming business is good - micro-transactions, especially consumable and repeatable micro transactions has the potentiality for much greater profit, especially as the game's life span drags on and you move away from the early window in which DLC is the easiest to sell.

And when they do release SP DLC I fully expect that to be charged regularly.

Are you trying to say they should develop content so they can maximize profit off of people purchasing packs? Coz microtransaction profit (constant) + $10-$15 for additional content = more $$$$$$$$. But like I said earlier, they probably will cut their losses if the additional content market is unsalvageable and release anything they do develop for free.

Originally Posted by Cory

Insanity on ME3 is like Veteran on ME2.

Hahah yeah, I only had trouble with the geth hunters and Kai Leng.

[Upset Spideyfan]

Originally Posted by Master Chief

Are you trying to say they should develop content so they can maximize profit off of people purchasing packs?

I'm not saying what I think they should or shouldn't do, I'm just saying what it is I think they're doing and the logic behind it.

Personally speaking, as long as it remains possible to get that content for free I am content and while I find micro transactions a bit uncomfortable personally, the people who do pay for that stuff seem okay with it for whatever that is worth. Like I said, as long as the system doesn't become mandatory (and I think consumers do have their breaking points) I'm happy to play the game for a round or two to unlock the pack the old fashioned way.

Originally Posted by Master Chief

Coz microtransaction profit (constant) + $10-$15 for additional content = more $$$$$$$$. But like I said earlier, they probably will cut their losses if the additional content market is unsalvageable and release anything they do develop for free.

I don't think that really works. Charging people $10 for Resurgence and then saying hey why don't you buy some packs to unlock those characters wouldn't fly imo. Once people pay for that initial content they (and I to be honest) would want that content unlocked immediately.

What they will charge $10-15 dollars for is the regular SP-based DLC content that they would have done so for anyway, which I expect there to be 2-4 such releases of.

[The Hill]

Have a new reason to hate on Jacob... he got Hawke pregnant.

[Speedball]

Originally Posted by Master Chief

A team of lvl 20 Turian Sentinels w/ chain overload against the geth on a tight map... easy creds.

Yeah, I love using sabotage on the Geth, and I sabotaged an Atlas once and that did all the work for me.

And after reading my earlier post, I can see how tired I was when I posted it.

[Speedball]

[Matt]

EA uses ending controversy for marketing

I gotta hand it to them, this is ballsy.

[Upset Spideyfan]

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that meeting.

[Master Chief]

Originally Posted by Upset Spideyfan

I'm not saying what I think they should or shouldn't do, I'm just saying what it is I think they're doing and the logic behind it.

Personally speaking, as long as it remains possible to get that content for free I am content and while I find micro transactions a bit uncomfortable personally, the people who do pay for that stuff seem okay with it for whatever that is worth. Like I said, as long as the system doesn't become mandatory (and I think consumers do have their breaking points) I'm happy to play the game for a round or two to unlock the pack the old fashioned way.

I don't think that really works. Charging people $10 for Resurgence and then saying hey why don't you buy some packs to unlock those characters wouldn't fly imo. Once people pay for that initial content they (and I to be honest) would want that content unlocked immediately.

What they will charge $10-15 dollars for is the regular SP-based DLC content that they would have done so for anyway, which I expect there to be 2-4 such releases of.

Well you don't have to worry lol the microtransaction model will never be mandatory. It's always been a play or pay thing which is why it's so effective.

Anyhoo charging people money for additional content and then locking the guns/characters in packs is no different than putting all the original stuff in packs to begin with. You can roll the dice to unlock them by playing or paying, no big deal. I wanted to play as a Krogan soldier as soon as I got the game and I couldn't, and still can't. I'm not complaining about it even though I paid $80 for the game; just as I wouldn't complain about not being able to play as a Geth infiltrator right away if I were to pay $10 for the Resurgence pack.

The best example I can think of where paid content wasn't immediately available is Battlefield 3's first piece of DLC. There were 10 guns that were locked until you met in-game requirements. I paid $15 for those guns and I didn't mind having to play for them. To bring this back full circle though, sure they're making profit from the microtransactions but that's not that great of a reason to release additional content for free, which is what you were thinking was going to happen. It surely could hahah but not if there's potential to make more money is all I was saying. Why release 2 maps for free when you can charge 340 Microsoft points, y'know?

Originally Posted by Speedball

Yeah, I love using sabotage on the Geth, and I sabotaged an Atlas once and that did all the work for me.

And after reading my earlier post, I can see how tired I was when I posted it.

I always liked seeing "Mxtt [Atlas] Guardian" whenever I did that.

[Balthus Dire]

Call me a weirdo, but I seriously think Bioware is shooting themselves in the foot so hard over this whole thing. Their PR responses are things of legend, man. You can say "oh you're just small potatoes" as much as you want, but the core fans are what make most developers thrive, and Bioware has really given their core fans the big F-U as far as their PR has been concerned.

IMO, of course.

[Matt]

EA should at the very least tell all of the Bioware employees aside from Jessica Merizan to get rid of their Twitter accounts.

[Donut]

Originally Posted by Matt

EA uses ending controversy for marketing

I gotta hand it to them, this is ballsy.

At this point. People will start looking up the ending on Youtube instead of buying the game

[Master Chief]

Hahah that's what I'm gonna do with the extended cut. They even had a lol with the Resurgence trailer. Really, red, blue and green costumes for the characters? At least it's nice to know they have a sense of humour about it, I guess.

[Upset Spideyfan]

I would think the smart move would be to wait and see what the general response is.

If the buzz is positive about it after it comes out, you'd probably be better off of gaining some potential catharsis just playing it yourself and having it reflect your own playthrough on your first go through.

On the other hand if it ends up being negative, then YouTube sounds like the way to go.

You really would only need to wait a few hours to find out either way.

[Master Chief]

Hahah their attitude towards making the extended cut is what set off my catharsis.

They're practically blaming the fans for being too stupid to understand their ending, so they're throwing the fans a bone. And because they're true fans, and they love listening to their fans, it's free. Have I used the word 'fans' enough times? Like, they don't even have the decency to let Casey Hudson lie about how the fans deserve more or something along those lines lol, I guess all the fans deserve is a lot of speculation. Whoo, it's nice to know they were listening, to all the fans, and didn't hear s**t. I'd rather not waste the bandwidth on it at all but I'm really curious to see how they expand on the artistic slop they have to work with.

[Balthus Dire]

I think that no matter how you slice it the reaction is probably gonna be pretty split. We already know that many people are preparing for misery because they aren't changing the Starchild and all that, so I can't imagine those people will be any less disappointed when the ending is "clarified".

Like I said before, I seriously think this whole thing will end up like DA2 in a few years where Bioware finally fesses up to making a mistake rather than acting like their fanbase is just a bunch of whiners who don't "get it." BUTTON AWESOME, BRO!!!!

[Upset Spideyfan]

The starchild is granted an albatross, but its something I can deal with - I dealt with the terminator Reaper at the end of 2 - primarily because the rest of the ending was so damned good. What ME3 is lacking is all of the good stuff that came after the Human Reaper sequence, so we're left at the credits sequence at what is the game's undeniably weakest moment, and I do think with enough effort the ending is salvageable.

If they can pull it together again and give us a conclusion that is actually a conclusion rather than a big confusing ??? then i can deal with that particular bit of nonsense.

All that is dependent on of course how far they are willing to go with the extended ending dlc, if its just a few token cinematics then that will not have been enough imo - but if it goes the distance in terms of reflecting the consequences of our choices and working them into a singular tapestry I will gladly accept that.

[Balthus Dire]

I could live with Starchild if they gave us some more dialogue options and the opportunity to question his logic. Otherwise, if that scene stays exactly as is, it'll still be absolutely atrocious and will keep the ending from being truly great IMO, no matter how many extra custscenes they splice in.

Also, for me, the Starchild is nowhere near on the level of the Human Reaper. Human Reaper was just a boss fight, really...it didn't have a huge impact on how the ending played out or the choices you had in shaping the story. Was it an underdeveloped idea? Yeah...but not nearly as stupid as Starchild IMO.

[Upset Spideyfan]

Originally Posted by Balthus Dire

I could live with Starchild if they gave us some more dialogue options and the opportunity to question his logic. Otherwise, if that scene stays exactly as is, it'll still be absolutely atrocious and will keep the ending from being truly great IMO, no matter how many extra custscenes they splice in.

Agreed, more interaction is a must.

Originally Posted by Balthus Dire

Also, for me, the Starchild is nowhere near on the level of the Human Reaper. Human Reaper was just a boss fight, really...it didn't have a huge impact on how the ending played out or the choices you had in shaping the story. Was it an underdeveloped idea? Yeah...but not nearly as stupid as Starchild IMO.

There was actually a decent amount of *****ing on the forums about how the Human Reaper ruined me2 FOREVAR and threw credibility out the window. I did not agree with those complaints and granted I think the situation here is obviously worse but it wouldn't have helped things had the game ended immediately after the platform Shepard and co was on was hit by debris - which is sort of what we have at the moment.

[SolarTiger]

Originally Posted by Upset Spideyfan

I'm still a little afraid to jump into Gold based on what I've heard people say about it.

I did my second gold match and made it to wave 8! It sucks though how my geth plasma shotgun can't one-shot in Gold, I guess I have to upgrade it to level 10 first...that's a lot of spectre packs.

Originally Posted by Matt

EA uses ending controversy for marketing

I gotta hand it to them, this is ballsy.

That is shameful, lol. Not a surprise from EA though.

[Upset Spideyfan]

Originally Posted by SolarTiger

I did my second gold match and made it to wave 8!

What level were you guys? I figure if i make the attempt it will be with my lvl 20 chars.

[Balthus Dire]

I've only ever beaten Gold with my Lvl 18+ characters and against Cerberus. The amount of Phantoms we had to fight during one wave was so absurd it was hilarious.


Also, re: having more Starchild dialogue options, I just saw this post on BSN and it gave me chillzzzzz:

You are trapped in this cycle as much as we are.
But we don't need it, and we don't need you:
We've learned how to stand on our own.
We'll make mistakes; but they'll be our mistakes.
We can find our own way between order and chaos. It's over because we decided it's over.

NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR GALAXY!!!

*That* would have been in line with Shepard's character, regardless of whether you're paragon or renegade.
What Shepard did in ME3's conclusion was more along the line of what Saren intended all along.

Apparently it's pulled from Babylon 5 or something, but an option like that (even if you have to have high Paragon/Renage or whatever to do it) would make me forgive the entire Starchild sequence.

[Upset Spideyfan]

The last achievement i need is to beat all MP maps on Gold/Insanity - I will get around to it... eventually.


>_>