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[ViciousDS]

Should Bioware release the MP as F2P?

If sales don't go as planned I can see it going on EA access at least by the end of the year with a bunch of MP DLC.



Also wtf at all the loading. I just got the tempest last night. Going to planets to scan.....is a hidden loading screen. Anywhere you go in the nexus is loading. Also who came up with the design to select tram destinations? A simple menu wasn't good enough? Instead we have to clonkily look at a spot and activate.

 

[Nyari]

Any tips for a CQC build?
I'm trying out an Engineer cloak/ flash freeze/ shotgun build but i'm getting my ass handed to me (normal difficulty, still on Eos)
i think it might be because i don't have enough skill points yet to make it work

 

[Tony Redgrave]

Any word on patches? I'm buying the game today (Europe) and I'm wondering whether to jump right in or wait for fixes.

Those of you already playing, what do you recommend?

Spoiler

We all know I'll probably won't be able to resist but still, do you think waiting is warranted?

 

[FrontalMonk]

Any tips for a CQC build?
I'm trying out an Engineer cloak/ flash freeze/ shotgun build but i'm getting my ass handed to me (normal difficulty, still on Eos)
i think it might be because i don't have enough skill points yet to make it work

Most folks are recommending a vanguard type build for close up stuff. Personally with that I had the most success with an assault rifle and a shotgun and having 1 consumable skill (in my case, omni grenade) and then having pull/charge. The idea being hit a shielded enemy with the AR until the shields drop, swap to shotgun and pull/charge for the biotic combo and finish with a shotgun blast.

Since then I've respec'd to go straight up ranged engineer with incinerate, electrocute, and assault turret and I've been really enjoying that with some stop & pop assault rifle action.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Should Bioware release the MP as F2P?

hell no.

 

[Maledict]

I really cannot believe they repeated the mistake they made with the Hinterlands with Eos.

 

[Metroidvania]

I really cannot believe they repeated the mistake they made with the Hinterlands with Eos.

Technically, it's kind of a variation on the Hinterlands problem.

The Hinterlands was so big/empty space that it 'tricked you' into thinking you had to stay there to do all the content and turned people off.

Eos literally kills you if you try to do that too early, but yeah, it 'repeats' the slow start issue, and doesn't really tell you straight out that you will be coming back, so you don't need to explore it all in one go.

 

[ChemicalCutthroat]

Got on with Iceman for like... a mission last night before switching to single player. The Matchmaking on Xbone seems super broken for some reason. You can create a custom party so you can invite some friends, but if you switch it from Private to Public it never populates the game with anyone else.

It is mind boggling, and I don't have the gear to two man Bronze yet. Seems like the only way to get a group of friends going in multiplayer is to have a full group of four to play with.

 

[ObsidianG]

Any tips for a CQC build?
I'm trying out an Engineer cloak/ flash freeze/ shotgun build but i'm getting my ass handed to me (normal difficulty, still on Eos)
i think it might be because i don't have enough skill points yet to make it work

Just finished Eos, and I've been tinkering with a similar build (level 10, sentinel profile, normal difficulty):

- You could try adding overload to your curren cloak/flashfreeze setup to help with shields since cryo blast affects armor/health

- if you aren't against speccing into other trees, dumping all of your points into annihilation & charge is the best way to go for CQC from the skill upgrades description (annihilation can be upgraded restores 25% of your shield / charge restores a portion of your shield when you hit an enemy)

- for my sentinel build, I personally use backlash to get in close, then I burst the enemies down with cryoblast + flamethrower, then a shotty (I have a disciple rank 2). The only enemies that give me a hard time are the kett wielding LMGs, so I just command my squad mates to focus on them while I clean up the rest.

 

[diaspora]

Eos literally tells you to fuck off until later when the radiation fades away (the radiation level 3 areas).

 

[Tovarisc]

Eos literally tells you to fuck off until later when the radiation fades away (the radiation level 3 areas).

It does fade quickly tho,

Spoiler

after you have done Vault and established Outpost. If you get quest from Cora that involves Eos it means whole planet is open for business.

 

[Nyari]

Just finished Eos, and I've been tinkering with a similar build (level 10, sentinel profile, normal difficulty):

- You could try adding overload to your curren cloak/flashfreeze setup to help with shields since cryo blast affects armor/health

- if you aren't against speccing into other trees, dumping all of your points into annihilation & charge is the best way to go for CQC from the skill upgrades description (annihilation can be upgraded restores 25% of your shield / charge restores a portion of your shield when you hit an enemy)

- for my sentinel build, I personally use backlash to get in close, then I burst the enemies down with cryoblast + flamethrower, then a shotty (I have a disciple rank 2). The only enemies that give me a hard time are the kett wielding LMGs, so I just command my squad mates to focus on them while I clean up the rest.

i'm all for experimentation, so i'll definitely give your build a try.
Are you only using your shotty or also taking along a pistol or an AR?

Right now i have to resort to falling back and using my Mattock a lot because i'm so damn squishy

 

[ObsidianG]

i'm all for experimentation, so i'll definitely give your build a try.
Are you only using your shotty or also taking along a pistol or an AR?

Right now i have to resort to falling back and using my Mattock a lot because i'm so damn squishy

I am also using a carnifex II as a sidearm (mostly for the observers/ or if I run into those giant armored monsters that I do not want to take on with a shotty). I hoarded all the research data from the scanning I did on Eos, and right now I am trying to decide on which augmentations to use to give myself an edge:

- I'm thinking of going electric conduit + vintage sink on my pistol for 400 milky way tech points (should be more effective on enemy shields, plus it will give me unlimited ammo)
- then shield oscillator on my N7 armor (restores 25% shields for each enemy killed) for 200 remnant tech points.

I haven't tested these in game yet, but that the first thing I plan to do when I get home from work today. I tried to pick these upgrades based on research that is available to us right from Eos (However, I think you only get augmentation slots on your weapons at rank II crafting). If all goes well, I think the shield restoration on kill + shield stripping from my pistol will round out the main weaknesses of my Ryder.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Enemy spawning is generally fucked in MP.
The game is trying to make you think enemies are really smart in flanking you, but in reality it just spawns enemies as close to you as possible as soon as you kill an enemy.

I've literally had a wraith spawn, and fall right behind me as soon as I turned around after an enemy kill.
Also as soon as a new enemy spawns near you, they know exactly where you are and make a beeline for you.

This is pretty damn awful tbh.

 

[JeffG]

Any word on patches? I'm buying the game today (Europe) and I'm wondering whether to jump right in or wait for fixes.

Those of you already playing, what do you recommend?

Spoiler

We all know I'll probably won't be able to resist but still, do you think waiting is warranted?

Bioware was good at patching DA:I, so I wouldn't worry here.

There are bugs though. I ran into a never ending spawn of enemies issue during a loyalty mission. Had to save, exit game and then reload.

Other Oddities (didn't break game...made me chuckle)

No Cup drink

Spoiler

Dup Jaal

 

[JeffG]

New Trailer


Sara's


https://youtu.be/W2jGJt-CFdM

 

[Vengal]

That was a pretty short trailer

 

[Bisnic]

New Trailer


Sara's


https://youtu.be/W2jGJt-CFdM

Talk about too late for this trailer. Should have been released before the game was even out lol.

 

[Vengal]

Talk about too late for this trailer. Should have been released before the game was even out lol.

It feels like they took time to recut the trailer.

 

[Cranster]

I had a similar glitch happen during the Eos vault. You don't have a bunch of auto saves to go back to?

Yeah going back to an earlier save fixed it. Still though that is a massive glitch they overlooked.

 

[Mindlog]

I got an e-mail from one character referencing another character that none of us had encountered yet
The game misses too many of those details. I don't know why.

Also don't like the low-res appearance of the galaxy map backgrounds.
And the stuttering when rotating around the nexus.

Don't mind scanning systems at all so far, but the two details above and the scale of things reminds me a little more of Rebel Galaxy than EVE.

Also small change that I wish had been made, but I know resource considerations are in play. We're still always orbiting planets from a distance that makes them all look the same size. I don't like that.

Running sniper/shotty Infiltrator (Cloak, Flamethrower, Energy Drain.) Some enemies are real dickheads on Insanity. Right now Black Widow II/Disciple II. Will have to get a feel for other weapons.

When the game hits those points where it feels like Frostbite Mass Effect it is really really good.

 

[Heckler456]

I really like Peebee.

 

[Dandy Lyin]

I really like Peebee.

So do I!

I was worried she was going to be another Sera... and she wasn't at all. Yes, she's quirky. But she's not "lol random."

My least favorite is probably Cora.

Spoiler

Her writing in her loyalty mission was just bad... We get it, you used to be a huntress. No need to casually bring it up in every conversation. I actually wish they had just made her an asari instead of a human.

 

[ChemicalCutthroat]

I really like Peebee.

Her hyperactivity is a bit off-putting sometimes, but all in all I really like her. She is a different build than most Asari, and her attitude is a lot younger than the stoic and thought out stuff you typically get from the Asari. I think she's great.

 

[Heckler456]

Alright, so, put a good 12 hours into the game, and am on 11% completion. Playing on insanity, so that's probably serving to stretch the time a little.

Got up to the point where I

Spoiler

colonized Eos

, talked to everyone on the Tempest, and just now quit when landing on the Nexus. So far, I am really enjoying my time with the game. It's a very flawed gem, but a gem nonetheless. I really like all of the characters, and having read the book, I also quite liked the characters that came pre-fleshed out for me.

The point where it really clicked for me personally was when I walked around

Spoiler

the settlement on Eos

talking to everyone, and just taking in the characters and their stories. Totally made me buy into the universe at that point.

I'm also really liking the actual gameplay. Playing insanity is making me play a little conservative, with med-long range weapons and concussive shot/incinerate/overload as my skills, so I'm not being all crazy, but it's still really enjoyable. The systems outside of the actual gameplay, like the galaxy map, outpost system, text-dispensary systems as I like to call them, ... are all serving their function well enough too. It's a good, cohesive whole so far.

I could probably go into more detail, but you get the gist. I really like it. I really hope that they're not reeling in the scope now given the backlash (let alone putting Mass Effect on the shelve...) with any future games they're doing in this style. Would suck. I want that huge and sprawling RPG, not a 30 hour campaign + extras. There's still something that Bioware does differently from other devs that just manages to tickle my fancy, and I would HATE losing it. Ah well, I'll enjoy this one for. Despair is for later

 

[diaspora]

I don't know if hyperactive is the best descriptor versus... skittish?

 

[ChemicalCutthroat]

I don't know if hyperactive is the best descriptor versus... skittish?

Skittish implies nervous to me, wary. Peebee comes off as confident, but needs to be doing something or she'll explode. It's a constant energy that needs an application and direction.

At least that's what I think so far, that might change as I play more and get to know her more.

 

[Mindlog]

I landed my Nomad on its second planet.
This is really Mass Effect 1 on Frostbite so hard.

Being able to finally put my sniper to good use and following that up with my shotgun when enemies get in close is working like a charm. I know you can switch profiles, but that's going to take me a long time to get there. Going to max my existing setup for the foreseeable future.

Infiltrator II

Tech Powers
Cloak
Energy Drain
Flamethrower

Combat Powers
Sniper
Shotgun
Fitness

Weapons: Black Widow II & Disciple II with some solid mods.

I need to craft some armor, but I still don't have a solid handle on what's what. Blueprint development just shows me cosmetics without telling me what the armor will actually do.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Silver getting too easy, moving to gold soon.
Also I somehow survived a hydra instant kill because he triggered my shield restore before the final hit, I should test if that wasn't a fluke.

 

[LightInfa]

What's the coolest looking armor y'all have found so far? I like the look of the remnant stuff but don't have enough silicon yet to make it.

 

[Renekton]

Silver getting too easy, moving to gold soon.
Also I somehow survived a hydra instant kill because he triggered my shield restore before the final hit, I should test if that wasn't a fluke.

Bronze is still kicking my butt lol.

 

[Madness]

This is honestly elementary level writing. These sidequests, this main story. Very disappointing. Uses so many tropes from the original trilogy itself.

 

[Boombloxer]

Silver getting too easy, moving to gold soon.
Also I somehow survived a hydra instant kill because he triggered my shield restore before the final hit, I should test if that wasn't a fluke.

Got the hang of Silver, but need more stuff before moving to Gold.

 

[Dany]

This is honestly elementary level writing. These sidequests, this main story. Very disappointing. Uses so many tropes from the original trilogy itself.

I would call them homages. They certainly are pulling from story elements from the original trilogy.

 

[rsniper59]

Alright, I know it's very early on, but I'm about an hour and a half in now and I do not see where all the negativity is coming from with this game. I'm playing the base PS4 version and so far I'm having a blast!

The combat already feels like it's going to be a major step-up, and allow for actual movement around a battlefield. That, in combination with the crazy amount of customization ahead of me for the character is really fun.

There's been some animation jankiness, but even that's been WAY overblown by all of the gifs that have been snipped out of videos and slowed down an exaggerated amount to focus on really tiny details.

Landing on that first planet in a new galaxy and seeing all the weird shit going on? That's pure "exploration sense" to me and has me really excited.

 

[Maledict]

Alright, I know it's very early on, but I'm about an hour and a half in now and I do not see where all the negativity is coming from with this game. I'm playing the base PS4 version and so far I'm having a blast!

The combat already feels like it's going to be a major step-up, and allow for actual movement around a battlefield. That, in combination with the crazy amount of customization ahead of me for the character is really fun.

There's been some animation jankiness, but even that's been WAY overblown by all of the gifs that have been snipped out of videos and slowed down an exaggerated amount to focus on really tiny details.

Landing on that first planet in a new galaxy and seeing all the weird shit going on? That's pure "exploration sense" to me and has me really excited.

Different people have different standards and expectations. For example, I actually find the animations in game *worse* than the GIFs. The GIFs are funny, but what they don't hammer home is that every single scene involving default male Ryder looks wrong. Seriously, played for 9 hours now and without exception there's something wrong with him at every point. Be it the eyes, the forehead, the lip syncing - just all round terrible. For some people that doesn't matter, but for others like me it's hugely important for a character driven narrative game to work. It breaks my immersion at every single step of the way.

And obviously, the other issue is that exploration was not what a lot of people enjoyed about Mass Effect. That's why ME2 was so praised and sold so much more. Personally, what I want is a tightly written sci-fi blockbuster game. I find "exploration" boring and pointless. I'm happy you guys got the game you wanted in ME:A, but I can't help but hope they come to the same realisation they did in the original series, that the exploration doesn't add anything and ultimately drags the game down, and that we get an ME2 style sequel with better writing, missions and animations (with the much improved combat!).

 

[Jimmyfenix]

I wonder what the game really reviewed internally. It's already at 73 on opencritic and EA have been vocal in the past about games being reviewed different from their internal testing.

 

[Poodlestrike]

This is honestly elementary level writing. These sidequests, this main story. Very disappointing. Uses so many tropes from the original trilogy itself.

This is a good thing, though. It's still Mass Effect, it should still be using the same core stable of Tropes.

 

[Lt-47]

I can't help but hope they come to the same realisation they did in the original series, that the exploration doesn't add anything and ultimately drags the game down, and that we get an ME2 style sequel with better writing, missions and animations (with the much improved combat!).

That's not going to happen regardless of what Bioware want. Big publisher aren't willing to greenlight anything that isn't open world(-ish). It's suck but there's not much to do about it. Maybe they could reduce the scope a bit to increase the quality but it's still wouldn't be like ME2/3

 

[FrontalMonk]

had a great time last night with a couple of my friends in MP clearing bronze a bunch of times and clearing silver once. Silver is pretty hectic, and just like in ME3MP running around bronze as a Krogan Vanguard is just hilarious. Such a damn one man wrecking crew. Throw on barrier, charge and headbutt, nova in groups, mix it up with shotguns. So good.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

Finally got it.

Wow, you people weren't kidding about the CC I can't even choose a complexion. It's marginally better that the OG trilogy regarding options.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Downloaded the .zip file for the ME:A Soundtrack off the archives site last week, finally opened it up just now.

I thought I was in for a real treat based on the file size. Almost a gigabyte! Damn, that must be a lot of tracks!

They're all .wav files.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Well, extracting from gold without too much effort either, and I'm using bronze weapons lol (though I don't really use them to kill, just to prime).

Spoiler

Whensplatinum?

Bronze is still kicking my butt lol.

Are you saving up your credits or something? Just pour everything you have into basic packs, you'll unlock a shitton of consumables this way and will allow you to carry more rockets/gel etc.

Also, unlike ME3, you actually can't max out a character by just leveling up, you need to unlock the character 9/10x from drops as well; the last 25 power points come from duplicate cards.
I've pretty much got every bronze card maxed out cept for mods.

 

[Vamphuntr]

This is honestly elementary level writing. These sidequests, this main story. Very disappointing. Uses so many tropes from the original trilogy itself.

I feel it's just not working at all because of the premise of the game. The Andromeda Initiative is the results of some crazy rich billionaire wanting to move to a galaxy 600 years away. She got some telemetry reading and saw some viable planets in there without thinking what could happen over 600 years or what happened the first time humans met aliens. Yet most people you find around of the trip are people that wanted adventure or were bored in their old job. This project is not something you embark upon because you want to spice your life up. When all hell break lose you then have people throwing tantrums like children. The whole game is shackled by this from the writing to the logic of the plot. You meet a new race and after 5 minutes they all refer to you as the pathfinder as if they already understood what it meant and what the initiative was. The answer to most issues is that the AI can solve the problems because it's super fantabulous. New aliens language? Translated in 5 minutes. Piloting a ship in darkspace for 600 years? No problem.

 

[ChemicalCutthroat]

Well, extracting from gold without too much effort either, and I'm using bronze weapons lol (though I don't really use them to kill, just to prime).

Spoiler

Whensplatinum?

Are you saving up your credits or something? Just pour everything you have into basic packs, you'll unlock a shitton of consumables this way and will allow you to carry more rockets/gel etc.

Also, unlike ME3, you actually can't max out a character by just leveling up, you need to unlock the character 9/10x from drops as well; the last 25 power points come from duplicate cards.
I've pretty much got every bronze card maxed out cept for mods.

What's that 'Bonus Stat' XP bar for? I really should pay more attention in the postgame carnage report...

 

[Sai]

Every time I've attempted a Silver match, I've been matched up with a bunch of Lv1-3s. Like, I'm sure they all understood how under-leveled they were once the match was done, but it's odd how I keep running into these first-timers.

Gonna be on that Bronze-grind for a while yet.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

What's that 'Bonus Stat' XP bar for? I really should pay more attention in the postgame carnage report...

it's for leveling up the bonus stat.

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

And obviously, the other issue is that exploration was not what a lot of people enjoyed about Mass Effect. That's why ME2 was so praised and sold so much more. Personally, what I want is a tightly written sci-fi blockbuster game. I find "exploration" boring and pointless. I'm happy you guys got the game you wanted in ME:A, but I can't help but hope they come to the same realisation they did in the original series, that the exploration doesn't add anything and ultimately drags the game down, and that we get an ME2 style sequel with better writing, missions and animations (with the much improved combat!).

Yeah, I am thinking the same thing. I like Andromeda a lot but a tight, linear game is just more my style. I would not mind at all if Andromeda 2 undergoes the same 'narrowing' that Mass Effect 2 did.

 

[Heckler456]

Just landed on my second planet, gonna try and reel in my playtime a little from here on out. I really want to savor this game, and not binge on it.

Anyway, again, really liking pretty much everything about it. Sad to see people still have a big-old hate boner on about this game, definitely doesn't deserve it to this degree. Like, everything's been said, it was lukewarm in terms of critical reception. Why is it that we're still seeing misleading cherry-picked screenshots trying to support inane arguments? But whatever, I've pretty much come to terms with the notion that I probably won't be seeing another Mass Effect game out of Bioware any time soon, and perhaps not even one of these huge-ass RPG's anymore, so it's only up from here for me!

Finally hit that point in the game where insanity isn't that unforgiving anymore, glad I stuck with that. I might jump into MP as well. I never played ME3's multiplayer, so not really sure what to expect on that front, but I've heard good things.

 

[Tigersprite]

I also generally like Peebee, she isn't​ just a reskinned Sera (who I also learned to like in her more serious moments), although I can't really stand

Spoiler

her rudeness towards Lexi; that feels far more shoehorned in/annoying than Sera's dislike of other elves.

I'm also really enjoying my time with the game. Just reached the Krogan colony and I'm absolutely loving all the side writing, and several side missions up to this point - I think that 98% of the task missions just should not be in the game though. The planet-based side missions, companion/ally missions + priority are more than enough, the others are simply filler. I also really hate how they've stuck with not having a cinematic camera for minor convos, it was really immersive and this new zooming in thing often leads to awkward angles depending on how Ryder is standing near NPCs. Didn't like it in DAI either.

I feel it's just not working at all because of the premise of the game. The Andromeda Initiative is the results of some crazy rich billionaire wanting to move to a galaxy 600 years away. She got some telemetry reading and saw some viable planets in there without thinking what could happen over 600 years or what happened the first time humans met aliens. Yet most people you find around of the trip are people that wanted adventure or were bored in their old job. This project is not something you embark upon because you want to spice your life up. When all hell break lose you then have people throwing tantrums like children.

There's a bit more to the Initiative's creation/purpose than that, actually. But I think the premise works perfectly - human ambition meeting reality hard is pretty realistic and is a really good premise for creating plot problems instead of a smooth, perfect transition from the Milky Way to Andromeda because everyone there is an expert rather than a mere Average Joe. There's also an interesting side mission with Lexi late in the game investigating

Spoiler

why so many of the humans seem more aggressive than what might have been expected when screening Initiative applicants

.