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Mass Effect 3: On Galactic Readiness, Infiltrator, and the End of Shepard's Journey

Mass Effect 3 lead writer Mac Walters sits down for a brief chat about BioWare's iOS expansion, new and old characters, and where things go from here.

In less than a month, BioWare's wildly popular Mass Effect sci-fi role-playing series will come to an end. At least, as far as we've come to know it. While Mass Effect will undoubtedly live on in some form or another, the primary trilogy players have immersed themselves in is on the verge of conclusion. The story of Commander Shepard's role in the war against the Reapers will conclude, and the Shepard fans have spent hundreds of hours building into the Paragon or Renegade or something in-between that you yourself willed him or her to become will perhaps ride off into the void of space, never to be heard from again. Or, maybe not.

Dim the lights and cue up that one Boyz II Men song, because it's going to be a bittersweet goodbye.
Dim the lights and cue up that one Boyz II Men song, because it's going to be a bittersweet goodbye.

Whatever the fate of Shepard and crew turns out to be, the end result almost pales in comparison to the journey that's gotten them there. When Mass Effect debuted back in late 2007, it's safe to say that, for as hotly anticipated a game as it was, few could have foreseen the fervent fandom that cropped up around the franchise. From the various DLC offerings to the myriad universe novels that have popped up in the last several years, people seemingly can't get enough of this space-faring world BioWare created. Undoubtedly, going into Mass Effect 3, those who have become particularly attached to their own Shepard are viewing this upcoming conclusion as bittersweet.

For their part, the developers at BioWare and the always convergence-minded folk at EA are doing their damnedest to ensure players have every opportunity to milk Mass Effect 3's story for all it's worth. In addition to another very lengthy single-player campaign, BioWare recently announced the Galaxy at War mode, a four-player cooperative campaign that, while an entirely optional experience separate from the main game, nonetheless entices players to complete it in service of both experiencing another side story in the Mass Effect story line, as well as contributing to a "Galactic Readiness" rating that plays into the single-player campaign's final battle.

And just this week, BioWare announced even more ways to experience the fringes of the Mass Effect 3 story via iOS. One way will be via a new Datapad app, which includes a whole host of codex entries for people to browse through, including detailed histories on the events of the previous two games, as well as some minor integration with your current Mass Effect 3 game. The other is Mass Effect: Infiltrator, a combat-oriented game from IronMonkey Studios that puts you in the role of a Cerberus soldier named Randall Enzo, who has been tasked with hunting down a variety of extraterrestrial species so that his Cerberus overlords can study them. It's a completely separate campaign that focuses almost exclusively on the combat stylings of Mass Effect (as translated through the touch-focused gameplay of an iOS game), and once again, completing this story will factor into your Galactic Readiness rating in the main game, provided you sync the two up with your EA Origin account.

Infiltrator is a completely separate story that nonetheless factors into your Galactic Readiness rating.
Infiltrator is a completely separate story that nonetheless factors into your Galactic Readiness rating.

I saw both of these apps, as well as a 45 minute demo of Mass Effect 3's second mission, during an EA press event just a couple of days ago. Rather than give you a spoiler-heavy blow-by-blow of everything that took place in said demo, I will simply say that its Mars setting made for quite the intense battleground, and a solid introduction for series newcomer James Vega, a hard-ass soldier played surprisingly well (at least in the few scenes I had with him) by Freddie Prinze Jr. Suffice it to say, the action was great, the story took some intriguing twists and turns, and lo and behold, those 45 minutes more or less flew by like mere seconds.

I also had the chance to talk with Mac Walters, the lead writer of Mass Effect 3, about all of the above. Walters was on-hand at the event to unveil both the Infiltrator and Datapad apps, as well as debut a new trailer (which everyone will apparently get to see next week sometime). In talking to Walters, I definitely got the vibe of a man as conflicted as the fanbase. It's understandable, given that he and so many others at BioWare have essentially lived and breathed Mass Effect for years of their lives. Seeing it come to this conclusion has to be both exciting and perhaps just a bit sad.

Still, Walters was nothing if not enthusiastic in talking about the upcoming iOS side ventures, the newcomers to the cast, the unfortunate story leaks that occurred some months back, and what it is, above all else, that he hopes fans take away from the series as a whole.

Giant Bomb: You guys are just about done now, right? Ready for submission?

Mac Walters: Yeah, we're pretty much done right now. We're just waiting to hear back, waiting to make sure nothing's going to stop [the submission process], yeah.

GB: The new iOS stuff is pretty interesting from the perspective of someone who might be interested in trying to wring the most out of the Mass Effect 3 experience possible. How did that stuff come about? Was that something generated internally? Did EA just come to you and say, "Hey, what about if we do this?"

MW: I think a lot of it was generated by wanting to do something like Galaxy at War. It came from Casey Hudson (Ed: Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series). He knew he wanted that sort of immersive experience you could get from doing things like the iOS games, and also incorporating multiplayer as this Galaxy at War mode that we've got. And then after that, it was just about finding out who was interested in helping to bring it about.

GB: In the case of IronMonkey, who also did EA's iOS Dead Space game, what was the process like in terms of putting that together? Is that game something that was written out internally and handed off to them? Was it more of a collaborative process?

MW: From very early on it was Casey, myself, and their team talking about the story. As much as possible when we work with another party like that, we want them to...especially because they were very excited about working with the Mass Effect universe, we were like, "Well, what do you want to do?" And then there will be a list, and we'll say, "Well, you can't do that, and we know we're going to be doing this in Mass Effect 3 so that doesn't work. But how about something like this?" And that's the way it's worked, with the back-and-forth. At key points they'll be like, "Well here's the whole script, take a look and let us know what you think." And we'll go through the process again, but it's really more about letting them solve problems on their own than saying, you know, "This is what you should write for this."

GB: As for the Datapad app, who is that more geared toward? Is that designed to be something of a catch-up tool for newer players with the codex?

MW: Probably the most inclusive thing on the Datapad app is the codex entries, which of course are available in the game. The ones in the game will be tailored to your experience and open up as you play the game. While we wanted to add other ways to access the universe, we didn't want you to necessarily feel like you HAD to have them. They had to be optional, but they also had to feel useful in their own right, and fun, just like the Infiltrator game, which is amazing.

Yeah, James Vega is a bit of a bro-dude blowhard, but Freddie Prinze's performance actually seems pretty good.
Yeah, James Vega is a bit of a bro-dude blowhard, but Freddie Prinze's performance actually seems pretty good.

GB: You've got a number of new characters joining old ones this year, including Freddie Prinze Jr. as James Vega. How did he get involved with the project?

MW: The cool thing with Freddie was that he's actually a huge fan. He's played both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 two times through each, both Renegade and Paragon. Like, he knows it, he gets it, and he was super excited to be a part of it. You can tell in the performance. He brought James Vega to life in a way that was just incredible.

GB: Another interesting casting choice is G4 and IGN correspondent Jessica Chobot as reporter Diana Allers. It's an especially interesting casting given that you're using her likeness in the game as well as her voice. As you haven't often done actor likenesses in the game previously, what was the inspiration in doing so here?

MW: We don't do it very often, though we did it before with the Miranda Lawson character and Yvonne Strahovski. I think that was something Casey envisioned. He thought she'd be perfect for that role. And it's kind of cool because she is one of those people from the game industry that you recognize. So it's like, "Oh, hey, there's that girl I recognize from TV!"

GB: I guess the potential concern there is that seeing someone you recognize from the TV in that context might pull you out of the experience a bit.

MW: It's something you always have to pay attention to, but I don't think it was ever a real concern. For us, it always comes down to the story first. So it's like, "Hey, this is the character we need you to be," and it's the same with any of the voice actors we get in.

GB: With the introduction of these new characters, not to mention the fact that in Mass Effect 2, depending on what choices you made, there were certain characters that could have lived through to see the conclusion or ended up dead, one can't help but wonder if or how you could potentially bring some of those characters into the Mass Effect 3 story in a meaningful way. Like, were you able to factor those characters into the plot should they have survived? And if so, how did you manage to do that without breaking the flow of the narrative?

MW: The thing we knew we wanted to do, from very early on, was to say, "We're going to tell an amazing story, regardless of whatever choices you've made before." So that was the first thing, tell an amazing story first. But as much as possible, the more important the character was in the past, the more you'd want to see them in Mass Effect 3 as well. So that factored into what level of involvement they would have in this game. If you're looking at bigger characters in Mass Effect 2, they're going to have a bigger role in Mass Effect 3.

And of course, therein lies our challenge. How do we tell these possible stories, maybe even create a mission around a character who may or may not be there. But by and large I think we've done a fantastic job of doing it. I'm really proud of the writers. They've taken that challenge, and it's been a lot of planning and a lot of rewrites [laughs], but I think we've pulled it off. And not even just from the previous games. The idea was to incorporate anything from all of the lore. So we've got characters from the novels coming in, and other people you've probably heard about throughout the Mass Effect universe, they should show up in some form in Mass Effect 3, because we really want to tie up those narrative threads.

GB: What would you say was the biggest overall challenge in writing Mass Effect 3?

MW: Biggest challenge by far was...it was kind of twofold. One, we really wanted to be able to present this game to new players, so we had to go back and ask, "Okay, how do we tell the story in a way that's fun for existing fans, and fun for newcomers." And a lot of times what that means is you have to branch it out, like you've got to tell not necessarily a different story, but tell it in a different way. That was probably one of the initial challenges.

But then also, when you're talking about dealing with fans, how do you tell an amazing story that can branch in so many different ways. I've played through the game like seven times now, and there are still parts of the game I haven't seen, at least not without cheating, you know? There are just huge parts of the game I can't get to yet because it's that massive, it's that expansive. So obviously tracking all that, planning it all out, and dull as it sounds, even just making sure all the logic works. Like oh that person's alive but that person's dead, so we have to account for all of that. And just tying all of that together into one cohesive story that is phenomenal.

Are you ready to see the end of Shepard's journey? Or do you wish it had lasted just a bit longer?
Are you ready to see the end of Shepard's journey? Or do you wish it had lasted just a bit longer?

GB: A while back it was learned that the story of Mass Effect 3 had leaked out onto various Internet forums. How did you guys handle that? Did you ever look at making changes to the story content to try and combat that? Or was it more about just saying, "Forget it, we're not going to let this mess with our plans?"

MW: It was pretty disheartening for the team, and for the writers especially. You know, it's kind of like someone just broke into your house and started reading all your journals. That's pretty much what it felt like. But as far as making adjustments, we haven't done anything. For one thing, the content that went out wasn't really in a form...you still had to piece things together. And some of that stuff had been cut, changed, or whatever. So we couldn't let something like that change what we had set as a course two years ago. So we just dealt with it and kept making the game. It was more about just encouraging everyone that "Hey, what we've made is something fantastic. Don't let anything that you're seeing out of that get you down."

GB: Speaking more on the grander scope of the entire series and its culmination in Mass Effect 3, what's the one thing you most hope players will take away from the overall experience?

MW: I think I want people to feel like they really have lived Shepard's story. And in concluding Shepard's story, that it does feel fulfilling. And in a way that I think nothing else ever has. If you're a fan of Star Wars and that first trilogy when that ended, sure, you felt like you wanted to get back in that universe. But the difference here is that you've lived it, you've experienced it, you've been a part of it. And of course you can go back and play it a different way to see how that turns out.

I just hope that in the end, there are lots of different ways people can talk about their Shepard's story, and how it's different from other people's.

GB: Do you know yet what's next on your plate? Are you head down on Mass Effect content for the foreseeable future, or are you starting to get a sense of what your next project might be?

MW: Right now, one of the things I'm focusing my efforts on is really looking into the future of narrative in games and interactive narrative. The Mass Effect series was always about baby steps, evolving the series a bit at a time. Now, I, and I think it's fair to say a good portion of the leadership team is too, we're thinking in terms of "How do we revolutionize with the next step?" And we're really so early in that process. Our brains are still pretty numb from the time spent on Mass Effect 3. But that's really the thing I'm looking forward to in the future. Sitting back, and soaking it in, saying, "Wow, that's what we made. What's next?"

Alex Navarro on Google+

177 Comments

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rjayb89

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Edited By rjayb89

Man, I can't wait for Mass Effect 3. Same with Assassin's Creed, I just can't enough of them until they end even if I curse at the screen with little ones running about. Well, that's mostly due to Assassin's Creed but ya know.

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jakkblades

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Edited By jakkblades

@Ronald: Typo's aren't what give Patrick away. You guys don't read for a living, do you? Patrick's style is very different, much more streamlined, less adventurous or "edgy" perhaps than Alex's (not even in content, syntactically,) and most of all succinct. It's no different in reviews or articles.

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Stubee

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Edited By Stubee

Scenes I want to see in Mass Effect 3:

1. Wrex and Grunt having an arm wrestle

2. Garrus actually calibrating something

3. Tali takes off her helmet

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ShadyPingu

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Edited By ShadyPingu

Cannot wait.

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Zippedbinders

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@cabelhigh said:

@nemt: Yes, of course, Mass Effect 2 certainly didn't improve the clunky combat, obtrusive load times, terrible AI, and so-so writing of the first game. At all.

.... are you being sarcastic? Mass Effect 2 had clunky and unsatisfying combat, similar load times to ME1 (only this time I had to stare at my lobster ship all the time), equally bad AI, and .... well, I guess the writing is on par with the first game. I actually liked that part.

Anyway, consider me among the ones slightly disappointed by this article. I really do love Alex articles, which is why this seems odd. Alex is one who I trust to cut through the PR bullshit given his more cynical nature. It feels like a missed opportunity to answer some questions that a large portion of the audience are worried about. Instead, it reads like "How awesome is ME3 going to be?" "So awesome". I know there's only so much an article like this can accomplish, but I had hoped for more.

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probablytuna

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Edited By probablytuna

Can't wait to play it....

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Naldean

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@Javes said:

"One, we really wanted to be able to present this game to new players" Ok, honestly, who will be playing ME3 and it will be their first game in the ME franchise? Why would Bioware/EA want to structure a game to the lowest common denominator of someone who has never played a ME game?

Of course ME3 will expand the audience. That's what sequels do, ones which don't are a failure. Nobody makes sequels with the goal of steadily decreasing sales. Every medium faces this issue and has to deal with it. Using this to prop up your preconceived notion that they are dumbing down and ruining the game is a real stretch.

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jakkblades

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@Animasta: Why would they? That would be a Stephenie Meyer-esque move.

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Arc209

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Edited By Arc209

Yep, good stuff. Now I am super looking forward to the conclusion even after those annoying story leaks. Thanks Alex!

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Funkofages

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Won't read for a few months after Mass Effect 3 comes out. Right now I am in full on "Just take my stupid money and give me the stupid game, and I'll just give up like 3 months of my life" mode.

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Vegetable_Side_Dish

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So it's like, "Oh, hey, there's that girl I recognize from TV!"

Definitely the reason I play sci-fi games.  
Definitely.  
...
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Edited By Sooty

"it's that lady who likes to lick things for fame"

would be my reaction when Chobot shows up on screen.

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Dunchad

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Cool beans - can't wait to get my hands on this.

However, if I don't get a "happily ever after" ending with Liara or at least a kind of bittersweet ending à la Babylon 5 (due to the lifespan difference), then I'mma punch someone.

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@jakkblades said:

@Animasta: Why would they? That would be a Stephenie Meyer-esque move.

To be honest, I thought the leak pulled a ton of Stephenie Myere-esque moves on its own. There shouldn't be a surprise that they'd change the script, though, that'd be crazy.

Really excited for this game, but still kind of bummed about the whole transition from "your story" to "Shepard's story."

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Death_Unicorn

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Edited By Death_Unicorn

Am I the only one not super stoked about "Galactic Readiness?"

I have to go and play their other games which I have no interest in in order to get a better ending in the game I paid 60 dollars for? Even within the game, I have to play a mode I'm not that interested in to enhance my singleplayer experience?

The whole thing feels dirty.

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Brendan

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@Zippedbinders said:

@cabelhigh said:

@nemt: Yes, of course, Mass Effect 2 certainly didn't improve the clunky combat, obtrusive load times, terrible AI, and so-so writing of the first game. At all.

.... are you being sarcastic? Mass Effect 2 had clunky and unsatisfying combat, similar load times to ME1 (only this time I had to stare at my lobster ship all the time), equally bad AI, and .... well, I guess the writing is on par with the first game. I actually liked that part.

Anyway, consider me among the ones slightly disappointed by this article. I really do love Alex articles, which is why this seems odd. Alex is one who I trust to cut through the PR bullshit given his more cynical nature. It feels like a missed opportunity to answer some questions that a large portion of the audience are worried about. Instead, it reads like "How awesome is ME3 going to be?" "So awesome". I know there's only so much an article like this can accomplish, but I had hoped for more.

Don't expect Alex to feel the same way about this as you do. Maybe he isn't cynical about Mass Effect 3, and has a more positive outlook about the situation. Lord knows that Mass Effect fans have been the pinnacle of poorly constructed criticisms and narrow perspectives when it comes to the way the franchise has gone, so don't immediately expect intelligent writers to simply go down that road.

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Slique

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Edited By Slique

"Oh, hey, there's that girl I recognise from TV" is the complete opposite reaction you should ever want to illicit from a character. I mean, the whole point of screen characters is that they transcend the actor and face playing them, and become instead the embodiment of that persona. Choosing someone specifically to do the opposite is horrendously bad and gimmicky writing, and I can't believe they went ahead with it. It hugely breaks verisimilitude and nukes your suspension of disbelief, which is so ridiculously important in science fiction.

I've generally loved Bioware's writing for the past 2 games, but this is such a huge step in the wrong direction and ultimately undermines the story they're trying to tell. How did anyone other than the marketing department think this was a good idea?

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@Javes said:

"One, we really wanted to be able to present this game to new players" Ok, honestly, who will be playing ME3 and it will be their first game in the ME franchise? Why would Bioware/EA want to structure a game to the lowest common denominator of someone who has never played a ME game?

That's my problem with this whole thing as well. They keep destroying so many franchises over and over again just to appeal to more people. Every single change to Mass Effect for this third one is something that makes it slightly more like Call of Duty. We're not dumb EA, we can see this, but copying someone else will never allow you to succeed them. I hate to be negative, but this is what they did to Dragon Age 2 as well, and how did that turn out for them? They also tried to turn The Old Rebublic into WoW, and that's not exactly on steady ground yet. It's simply not good business strategy to alienate the huge base of classic Bioware fans like myself.

It hurts, because EA has genuinely great studios under their helm. The problem is that their marketing teams have no confidence in them making a product that's actually unique and potentially a great seller, as if Bioware or all the others never made a good game before EA came around.

The splitting up the game onto separate devices thing annoys me severely on a whole other level. When I buy a game, I want a complete experience dammit. I don't buy books with missing pages in them. And I don't want to get into Origin, that alone might keep me from finishing this series.

Forgive the bitterness, but EA has been metaphorically stepping on my pet dog for the last ten years.

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@Death_Unicorn said:

Am I the only one not super stoked about "Galactic Readiness?"

I have to go and play their other games which I have no interest in in order to get a better ending in the game I paid 60 dollars for? Even within the game, I have to play a mode I'm not that interested in to enhance my singleplayer experience?

The whole thing feels dirty.

Whaaaat? Dirty!? I really hope you don't believe the only way to get a better ending is to play these tie-ins. I thought it was an obvious unspoken truth that it would only help give you more points towards a better ending, points which you could also earn by just playing more of the game. There's no way the non-campaign things would be the only way to get the best ending. I figure it'd be like playing some Mass Effect 2 iOS game that rewarded you with, like,

armor for Mordin so he wouldn't bite it every time you played the ending. Took me 6 tries :(

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@Zippedbinders said:

@cabelhigh said:

@nemt: Yes, of course, Mass Effect 2 certainly didn't improve the clunky combat, obtrusive load times, terrible AI, and so-so writing of the first game. At all.

.... are you being sarcastic? Mass Effect 2 had clunky and unsatisfying combat, similar load times to ME1 (only this time I had to stare at my lobster ship all the time), equally bad AI, and .... well, I guess the writing is on par with the first game. I actually liked that part.

The combat in ME1 was kind of unfinished. If you played biotics heavy, as I did, I used that default pistol THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE GAME and never got a chance to try anything else. That was not fun. ME 2 made the combat more fun with a larger variety of more useful weapons and powers. And, seriously, having my allies shotgun a wall during combat in ME1 was terrible. That never happened in ME2. At least they knew how to shoot.

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Edited By alex

@Brendan: That's pretty much it. I realize that there is a portion of the Mass Effect audience that is super up in arms about certain aspects of this game, but I'm not particularly. I did find the Chobot thing off-putting, which is why I asked about it. It was clear from his answers he didn't want to get into it too terribly much, so I could have either kept prodding him and piss him off, or just continue on with my interview. Do you honestly expect the lead writer of ME3 to be like, "Yeah man, it's such bullshit that this is this and that is that!"? I mean, of course he isn't. He's there to promote his game. I can try to get honest answers out of the guy knowing what he'll talk about, or I can try and ambush him for the sake of what, looking like some bad ass journalist when he decides not to answer my questions?

I didn't see much point in it. I was more curious about the stuff I asked about in the article than whatever it is people on Internet forums are grousing about.

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Edited By mutha3

@CaptainComedy said:

@Death_Unicorn said:

Am I the only one not super stoked about "Galactic Readiness?"

I have to go and play their other games which I have no interest in in order to get a better ending in the game I paid 60 dollars for? Even within the game, I have to play a mode I'm not that interested in to enhance my singleplayer experience?

The whole thing feels dirty.

Whaaaat? Dirty!? I really hope you don't believe the only way to get a better ending is to play these tie-ins. I thought it was an obvious unspoken truth that it would only help give you more points towards a better ending, points which you could also earn by just playing more of the game. There's no way the non-campaign things would be the only way to get the best ending. I figure it'd be like playing some Mass Effect 2 iOS game that rewarded you with, like,

armor for Mordin so he wouldn't bite it every time you played the ending. Took me 6 tries :(

Here's how the ending stuff gets determined in ME3:

In order to get a "good" ending in ME3, you need a lot of war assets. Those are doled out in ME3 in the form of GAW points. GAW points are earned by making decisions and how certain conflicts play out depending on stuff you did in the past games.

Galactic Readiness in ME3 is what determines the percentage of those war assets(GAW points) you are able to use. The game starts at 50% Galactic Readiness, and you can raise it by doing multiplayer or playing those dumb tie-in games.

Example: if you gather 3000 GAW points throughout the game, and you have a galactic readiness of 50%, you will have 1500 war assets in the final battle.

(^Not actual spoilers or anything, but some people are super sensitive about this sort of stuff, so....)

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Zippedbinders

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Edited By Zippedbinders

@Alex said:

@Brendan: That's pretty much it. I realize that there is a portion of the Mass Effect audience that is super up in arms about certain aspects of this game, but I'm not particularly. I did find the Chobot thing off-putting, which is why I asked about it. It was clear from his answers he didn't want to get into it too terribly much, so I could have either kept prodding him and piss him off, or just continue on with my interview. Do you honestly expect the lead writer of ME3 to be like, "Yeah man, it's such bullshit that this is this and that is that!"? I mean, of course he isn't. He's there to promote his game. I can try to get honest answers out of the guy knowing what he'll talk about, or I can try and ambush him for the sake of what, looking like some bad ass journalist when he decides not to answer my questions?

I didn't see much point in it. I was more curious about the stuff I asked about in the article than whatever it is people on Internet forums are grousing about.

Like I said, I know there's only so much you can do, it is a promotional "Hey check out our game" sort of thing, not a clinical expose or a post mortem. I'm not insinuating that you attack the man, but that there could have been a few questions that relate to the issues that are popping up. Questions about the supposed reintroduction of gameplay mechanics that were missing in ME2, that whole thing where you decide whether you want more or less combat and story, what are they doing to appeal to new audiences, how are they trying to appeal to the audience that were a bit burned by ME2's changes. You're a journalist, and there are ways to respectfully ask people some hard questions.

I really appreciated you bringing up the Chobot thing, though the response deliberately danced around a real answer. I just wish the rest of it were more like that, as opposed to a run of the mill Q&A I can find anywhere else.

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TorMasturba

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I'd like to note that very likely ALL the real fans of the series just ignored the story hacks of Mass Effect 3 as much as humanly possibly so that they know little or nothing about how Mass Effect 3's story goes.

Hunting down the future story twists and turns is kind of lame in any form of media circle because it detracts from the experience of playing through the final finished product yourself quite significantly.

I mean I don't want to know that such and such a decision will occur at the end of the original Mass Effect that will affect the outcome of two certain characters. (If someone screams SPOILERS then get your ass in gear and go play ME already it's been out for 5 or 6 years at this point.)

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Jedted

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Edited By Jedted

The fact the Jessica Chobot is in the game is not so much of a big deal for me but the way they copied her face for the character model just looks strange. I like her in RL but in-game she looks like an adolecent teenager.

I wonder what her role will be, if she's a potetial squadmate or just like Kelly Chambers in that she hangs out on the ship and a potential bed buddy.

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CzarChrisulus

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So excited for this game, any news is good news!

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Blackout62

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What pisses me off is the weird low cut one piece exercise/swimsuit getup the Chobot character is shown wearing. What did we just happen to catch this Alliance reporter during her morning exercise or is she really just that unprofessional?

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Zippedbinders

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@cabelhigh said:

@Zippedbinders said:

@cabelhigh said:

@nemt: Yes, of course, Mass Effect 2 certainly didn't improve the clunky combat, obtrusive load times, terrible AI, and so-so writing of the first game. At all.

.... are you being sarcastic? Mass Effect 2 had clunky and unsatisfying combat, similar load times to ME1 (only this time I had to stare at my lobster ship all the time), equally bad AI, and .... well, I guess the writing is on par with the first game. I actually liked that part.

The combat in ME1 was kind of unfinished. If you played biotics heavy, as I did, I used that default pistol THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE GAME and never got a chance to try anything else. That was not fun. ME 2 made the combat more fun with a larger variety of more useful weapons and powers. And, seriously, having my allies shotgun a wall during combat in ME1 was terrible. That never happened in ME2. At least they knew how to shoot.

I played Soldier in the first game, and Engineer in the second. Never messed with Biotics.

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BitterAlmond

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@Blackout62 said:

What pisses me off is the weird low cut one piece exercise/swimsuit getup the Chobot character is shown wearing. What did we just happen to catch this Alliance reporter during her morning exercise or is she really just that unprofessional?

Don't think so hard. Just accept it for what it is.

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Sooty

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Edited By Sooty

Wait so you have to play the co-op AND play the iOS game to get the most out of this game? God this is so dumb, I want to finish the campaign and not feel like I'm missing some extra pieces for no good reason.

Making people like things on Facebook to unlock content is one thing, but demanding you to play co-op (in a series that has never been about multiplayer) and play an iOS game is just ridiculous. I hate that games feel the need to pull stunts like this.

I realise I may be overreacting but I have nothing but disdain for social media and mobile game tie-ins.

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Dan_CiTi

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@cabelhigh said:

@Zippedbinders said:

@cabelhigh said:

@nemt: Yes, of course, Mass Effect 2 certainly didn't improve the clunky combat, obtrusive load times, terrible AI, and so-so writing of the first game. At all.

.... are you being sarcastic? Mass Effect 2 had clunky and unsatisfying combat, similar load times to ME1 (only this time I had to stare at my lobster ship all the time), equally bad AI, and .... well, I guess the writing is on par with the first game. I actually liked that part.

The combat in ME1 was kind of unfinished. If you played biotics heavy, as I did, I used that default pistol THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE GAME and never got a chance to try anything else. That was not fun. ME 2 made the combat more fun with a larger variety of more useful weapons and powers. And, seriously, having my allies shotgun a wall during combat in ME1 was terrible. That never happened in ME2. At least they knew how to shoot.

Exactly. The combat between ME1 and ME2 was a huge jump. I could not stand ME1's while 2's was a lot of fun.

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Death_Unicorn

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@mutha3 said:

@CaptainComedy said:

@Death_Unicorn said:

Am I the only one not super stoked about "Galactic Readiness?"

I have to go and play their other games which I have no interest in in order to get a better ending in the game I paid 60 dollars for? Even within the game, I have to play a mode I'm not that interested in to enhance my singleplayer experience?

The whole thing feels dirty.

Whaaaat? Dirty!? I really hope you don't believe the only way to get a better ending is to play these tie-ins. I thought it was an obvious unspoken truth that it would only help give you more points towards a better ending, points which you could also earn by just playing more of the game. There's no way the non-campaign things would be the only way to get the best ending. I figure it'd be like playing some Mass Effect 2 iOS game that rewarded you with, like,

armor for Mordin so he wouldn't bite it every time you played the ending. Took me 6 tries :(

Here's how the ending stuff gets determined in ME3:

In order to get a "good" ending in ME3, you need a lot of war assets. Those are doled out in ME3 in the form of GAW points. GAW points are earned by making decisions and how certain conflicts play out depending on stuff you did in the past games.

Galactic Readiness in ME3 is what determines the percentage of those war assets(GAW points) you are able to use. The game starts at 50% Galactic Readiness, and you can raise it by doing multiplayer or playing those dumb tie-in games.

Example: if you gather 3000 GAW points throughout the game, and you have a galactic readiness of 50%, you will have 1500 war assets in the final battle.

(^Not actual spoilers or anything, but some people are super sensitive about this sort of stuff, so....)

The fact that it is a way is still kind of dirty...

But I'm probably just a disillusioned crazy, old, man complaining about BioWare's golden years, don't listen to me.

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Mumrik

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@nemt said:

You forgot to ask "So why did you take the best new IP this gen and turn it into a horrible game?"

Mass Effect 2 was the best game Bioware has made in 10+ years. We'll see what happens with 3.

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No, you don't have to play all of that stuff to 'get the most' out of the single player game. You can do everything you need to do in the game itself and play the game to full completion. The co-op and iOS game are EXTRA layers for people that want more Mass Effect.

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Sooty

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@Maffrew said:

No, you don't have to play all of that stuff to 'get the most' out of the single player game. You can do everything you need to do in the game itself and play the game to full completion. The co-op and iOS game are EXTRA layers for people that want more Mass Effect.

The 'Galactic Readiness' thing sounds like it may have some sort of impact though, I can't really find any specifics about that stuff.

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maffrew

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@Sooty: Yeah it has an impact, but you can increase your galactic readiness in the single player too . The other stuff is an additional way to increase it faster/in more varied ways.

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It's my own fault but I've spoiled myself to hell and after reading so much of what they're doing with ME3 I'm just not excited for this game AT ALL.

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Dookysharpgun

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"We're going to tell an amazing story, regardless of whatever choices you've made before"

You know, that happened in another little game that was disappointing...it was called Dragon Age 2.

In a good narrative, the story should be made up of solid, easy to reference points, that will be unaffected by choices, insofar that the beginning, middle and end should really stick to the plot, with only two real variations in the case of an ME game: Paragon and Renegade. The choices should be integrated into the overall game though, it can't be that hard, I mean, just replace a character model like you did with Wrex, if he died in ME1. But what I'm getting from this interview is that they've all but given up making this experience with the choices of the player in mind, when really, there weren't that many to be made throughout the previous titles. This kind of attitude undermines the entire series, when you choose to ignore a whole gameplay-altering mechanic for no good reason, other than you felt like it.

Chobot isn't on TV, and she isn't that well known outside of internet circles, I want to believe that her character has actual character, not that I know her from IGN. I don't mind Freddie Prince Jr., but his character's reason for existing is fairly counter-intuitive, as he's an apparent fan of the game, but his character is supposed to make the game more accessible to new players...and again...this is the third game in a trilogy, and you can buy both of the previous games for a steal...what's the point?

And didn't they ask people who read the spoilers for feedback? Now they're saying they did nothing? This is pretty sad that you're proud of a game that really, really hasn't gotten any love, as its been severely under-promoted, has a metric pile of useless DLC, several unpopular design choices, developers who seem to come up with answers on the spot, and an overall feel, for everybody I think, of foreboding, as we learn more and more about this game, which leaves us unexcited and wondering just what will be new and improved, other than the combat mechanics. I wish they'd stop treating fans like mindless fools, and give us a little something we can sink our teeth into that's actually significant.

Galactic Readiness, as I've stated frequently and repeatedly, is a crutch for lazy people who don't want to play a SP campaign for the experience, much like how you could play Gears of War on insane co-op and still get the achievements despite not doing it alone. While it won't piss everyone off, at least ME2 had the decency to punish people for not playing the game the way it was meant to be played. It punished the lazy, and rewarded people for playing the actual game...you know...it was a goddamn videogame. And I don't care about anything that effects the game through outside sources, I like playing my games without intrusive extras that I don't need.

Maybe I'm just old and cynical, and I hope that its just the same sense of dread most people are feeling about this game, but I'm seeing red-flags with everything I hear about this game. When I hear a writer talking like he doesn't care about the players effect on the story, what the series was about from the get-go, I get extremely worried. Maybe the demo will change my mind, but Bioware's demo history has been less-than helpful when swaying you one way or the other...seeing as the ME2 demo came out months after its release, and the DA2 demo wasn't a real representation of the overall product at all.

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blacklab

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@Phuturist said:

Posting my first thing on the site ever now:

Patrick Alex, you really should have done an interview with him, not just a "tell me how good Mass Effect 3 will be.".

Where is the question about that statement that they want to open Mass Effect 3 for a wider audience?

Where is the question about that Call Of Duty audience character?

What about suddenly Origin in part 3 of a trilogy?

I like your articles, Patrick, Alex, but be tougher in interviews please, this was not what I wanted to read.

Edit: Ooops. Sorry. Back to not posting anywhere.

All of those people giving you crap about this are douches.

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rpgee

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So much doubt for Bioware everywhere. I'll just sit back and relax and enjoy the game while people lose their shit over there being co-op or some other little detail, and thus I won't feel like I've wasted my money. Good article, for putting out hard questions while not being a dick, and calm down everyone else. Just let the game do the thing, and if you enjoy it, great. If you don't, then you haven't killed yourself, and it's only a game.

Side note: this article confirms I'm not crazy. In ME2, first time I met Miranda I thought "Why does she sound so Aussie?" and no one ever acknowledged it, not in the game or in the media or anywhere. It made me think I'd lost my mind somewhat. Now that I know it's Yvonne Strahovski, it makes much more sense, and makes me glad I can actually recognise my own people.

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deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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The anger... it sustains me!!  It gives me strength!
 
When the game is actually out, the anger will rise to such a crescendo that I transcend mortality and become the end of all things!

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Dookysharpgun

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Edited By Dookysharpgun

@Phuturist said:

Posting my first thing on the site ever now:

Patrick Alex, you really should have done an interview with him, not just a "tell me how good Mass Effect 3 will be.".

Where is the question about that statement that they want to open Mass Effect 3 for a wider audience?

Where is the question about that Call Of Duty audience character?

What about suddenly Origin in part 3 of a trilogy?

I like your articles, Patrick, Alex, but be tougher in interviews please, this was not what I wanted to read.

Edit: Ooops. Sorry. Back to not posting anywhere.

Relax, I've seen dudes with thousands of posts who got the name's wrong when it came to the authors of articles, forget the assholes giving you shit over it :) You raised some valid points, just as relevant as anyone's.

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Chop

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Mass Effect 3? More like shitty game 3! I've played the whole thing, trust me guys.

Hahahahahhahahahahahah

ahhhhaaahh...*sigh*

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RedRoach

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@Sooty said:

@Maffrew said:

No, you don't have to play all of that stuff to 'get the most' out of the single player game. You can do everything you need to do in the game itself and play the game to full completion. The co-op and iOS game are EXTRA layers for people that want more Mass Effect.

The 'Galactic Readiness' thing sounds like it may have some sort of impact though, I can't really find any specifics about that stuff.

I read somewhere that it does have an effect on the single player, but it's not mandatory to get your perfect playthrough of the game.

Edit: it's called galactic readiness i believe. I haven't read any of the spoiler stuff though. But if you play MP and the iOS stuff it improves galactic readiness, it's extra stuff that helps, but you don't need it.

And i don't want anyone telling me the spoilers to prove if I'm wrong please.

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RE_Player1

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While I'm in deep with Mass Effect with both games and all the books I have no problem walking away from the series if this turns out to be a step down in quality. From what I read and seen this is going to be a shit show of a game, in my opinion of course. I hope I'm wrong and this game comes out and blows the fucking doors off but if it does turn out to be a step down in the franchise I will simply ignore it and remember my fond memories of Mass Effect 2 and especially the original game.

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Sgykah

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As a mass effect fan myself, we are starting to sound like star trek fans that are the butt of jokes on TV and every other media. It's a little sad. I understand that this is a different media, that we have ownership over our character because some of us have played the character the way that our ideal selves would handle situations, however, to look at the product in advance and to make judgements without information is... lazy on our part. Also, a lot of conclusions based on the most recent BioWare game (DAII), come off as hyperbole; I would go so far as calling the people who have commented negatively on ME3 based on DAII as insincere.

I really want to address DAII. The story was anything but weak. The re-use of environments was terrible and the combat on normal was too easy, I will admit so much. However, I have to repeat myself, the story was not weak. I played the game like I play any other: making decisions through my ideal self. The story shines because the event that defined the conclusion of the game had a very powerful effect (I really consider it up there with other stories based around character development -- the discovery of your identity in KOTOR, the revelation of the Nameless One's story is in Planescape: Torment, the scene with Sinclair in Bioshock). Just like those games, DAII was well written. As a narrative hook, the device of following your character through time instead of space worked well. I developed an understanding of the Hawke family and what drove them (how could my brother turn on me the way he did?), and more importantly, the main character had real bulk in that his future decisions were in line with his prior ones. BioWare for me has always been about their amazingly written characters, and Varrik was useless as a party member, but an integral part of my enjoyment of the game. I enjoyed the game enough to replay it from the exact opposite approach characterwise and I still enjoyed every step of the story. The story in DAII was fine for the medium.

I would also like to argue with people that say DAII's combat was dumbed down. On hard difficulty, the combination of powers from the different character archetypes added an absolutely necessary aspect of tactics that made the gameplay fun and exciting. There were times that I felt like I was in a well-formed group doing a flawless UBRS run for the first time (this was especially true with the Legacy expansion). The addition of better fighting animations made the game less bland, and added the important distinction of when to switch targets in order to do more damage with the 4th hit in a series. Furthermore, I actually liked the appearance of additional enemies because it meant that I had to manage my end-game spells and powers much better (a gameplay decision that was "hokey" when it comes to immersion). I like it because I was challenged by having to re-assess target priority mid-battle. The gameplay, as long as you didn't play it on "normal" had depth (I could be wrong, but I believe that when developers say "we want to make the game accessible," they mean "normal is the new easy because we don't want new players to feel like idiots with a major video-gaming mental deficit.")

But DAII was not perfect. It was a good game, and it would have received a lot of praise if it had been the product of anyone but BioWare. We have come to expect more from BioWare, and they did let us down with the lack of polish and repeated use of environments in DAII. However, it was not the affront to humanity people are making it out to be. It was rushed, it came out too soon after DAO, and it did not meet our expectations of a BioWare game. But the characters were still amazingly written and the story device worked well (if you disagree with me I ask you to do two things: (1)-play the game, put Varric and Merrill into your group and just listen to their bantor; it is on par with anything Minsc ever said (2)-assess how you felt after our mage friend did that thing; anger and a sense of betrayal in a video game means the writers touched you in the right spots).

I conclude with this: I doubt ME3 will be the terrible thing people are making it out to be. Hell, I doubt I'll be even close to disappointed (and my expectations are high). ME3 has not been rushed in the way that DAII was, they are working hard to make a game that even they will enjoy, and I know the writers are not hacks); this is evident in their response to ME:Deception. And to those complaining about the multiplayer, get your hands on the Syndicate demo and play it with a group of friends. If ME3's multiplayer is half of what Syndicate's co-op is, then the path to galactic readiness will be an enjoyable part of the game.

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Sgykah

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Ahh, one last thing about the iOS game: the video game market is changing. People are spending their entertainment dollars on smaller, more portable choices. I want my favorite publishers to play with this idea so that they can stay afloat, change with the market, and continue to make the games I enjoy. So no, the iOS game is also not the end of the world, they just need to make one for Android.

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Shaka999

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@msavo: If you can avoid spoiling plotlines, I'd appreciate it, but where is everyone hearing that this game is going to be so bad? Was there something that came out that ruined everyone's expectations or is that a gut feeling?

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Red

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Edited By Red

So very excited. Replaying the first two in anticipation, and I bet I'll play through that iOS game, despite the fact that it'll probably be bad because it's an iOS game.

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Dookysharpgun

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@Sgykah: ...we're getting information. And just like you said about IOS, the industry is changing. Now we can log onto a dev site and see what they've left for us. Its how the industry works nowadays, we get to speculate from what we're given, its one of the joys of the internet, and maybe one of its greatest follies, still, you can't just say we can't make judgement calls, because we are getting info, and the info is quite sparse and unimpressive. People, like myself, who are using DA2 as a comparative point, are doing so as a means to convey how a game with a lot of potential, can fall flat when the potential elements are ignored in place of something easier to manage, and quicker to release. Its what the game represents that people didn't like, and how it spat on its own franchise. What's more, its actually been speculated that if DA2 wasn't a Bioware title, it would have been destroyed in reviews, with the same people giving it 7s and 8s saying it was only because it was Dragon Age, and a Bioware product. There's a stigma surrounding Bioware, but its not close to the one you're describing. If people speak out against them, no matter what points they have, they get crucified, or thrown into a generalised grouping for the sake of ease, and that is probably why they think they're golden at the moment. DA2 gives apologists pause, because really, without the Bioware trademark, would it have been received any better? That kind of mindset can actually work to everyone's advantage.

Look, I know that somehow, in some way, from a perspective of someone other than myself, you'd have some solid points...but honestly, there were a lot of people who defended DA2 when it came out that, after a relatively short period of time, either turned on the game, or just stopped playing it. For an RPG, that's bad. It was disappointing, it consisted mostly of fetch quests, and if it wasn't for Varric's input, the story would have been boring. The single-city storyline was badly implemented, with little to no showing that time had passed across a ten year period, and the characters were, for the most part, very bland, and sometimes completely wrong, just for the sake of adding a little drama to their stories. Those issues are warning signs, things that could potentially come up if we don't hammer home the point that we don't want to see them in any game, ever, anymore. They took away any possible enjoyment from the game's finer points, and you can't simply ignore them when they effect the aspects that would usually give the game a pass for all of its problems.

It really burns my ass when people use that difficulty excuse, because that isn't a real excuse. You're basically making an already boring system much more frustrating then it has to be...I've tried it, and it didn't help. The entire combat system was supposed to be more fluid and exciting, and ended up needing an update that allowed you to just hit the A button because, and I don't know if this was just me, carpel tunnel would set in after just a half hour of play. Also, it was stated that they didn't want to put in the same tactics button from DA:O because of the new system, and that the game was more about being tactical on the fly. Just saying, this shows how new design ideas are damaged by lack of practical implementation, and lack of confidence in ability.

You're also forgetting that they were going to release ME3 last year, and that the most speculated reason for its push back to this march was because of the addition of a MP Co-Op aspect, which we'll need to see the demo of to really see how its implemented.

And to be honest with you, the sheer number of jaw-dropping issues with plot holes in ME2 and its DLC shows that, in a way, the writers can't keep up with themselves, for what is, in essence, a rather basic story (see the Arrival DLC for a real show of just how pointless the entire story of ME2 was, baring in mind that part of Arrival is actually going to be a plot point in ME3, and for that matter, why the plot of ME2 was barely passable as it was).

I can't stress enough that while you make points, that from a certain perspective are, in a way, relevant, you're glossing over, and outright undermining, some of the more valid points that people have made concerning their issues with this game. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you've done exactly what you're arguing against, from the other side of the fence, with less evidence to back up what you're saying.You can't simply use the word 'hyperbole' (an overused word in the english language, especially in gaming circles) to back what is pretty much an average point of general consensus, that, while you might not agree with, is anything but hyperbolic...I actually feel dirty after saying that. I'm just pointing out that trying to generalise the reasoning behind the air of discontent surrounding ME3 isn't really doing anything useful...it is, as you've stated, lazy. No disrespect intended of course, but I do think that you're overlooking some of the logical reasons behind people's opinions, and it does seem somewhat insulting to the intelligence of those who you're arguing against. People want this game to be good, they do, I know I do, but putting complete and utter faith in a developer is wrong, because it creates a bias that allows their products to get away with things that we'd never let a new-name dev team get away with.