BioWare - Community Q&A @ MTV

[Dhruin]

MTV Multiplayer recently asked their readers for questions to put to the BioDocs and, unfortunately, came back with stuff that didn't need asking. Multiplayer, multiplayer, what about the PS3 and this classic (possible spoiler for Mass Effect):

MTV Multiplayer: So the ramifications of your choices… What if players change their mind? Like Wrex is dead, and by forever, you mean forever. I’m assuming you’d have to start over then…
Zeschuk: Mmmm. I think you’ve got to go back. You can’t rewrite history. You’ve made your choices. First they have to buy another copy, and then they’ve got to play it again.
Muzyka: [laughs] Well, if they already own it…

The doctors stay on-message otherwise, which is that Mass Effect 2 is listening to player feedback and "amping up the action".
More information.

 

[wolfing]

as if ME1 wasn't a shooter enough they'll make ME2 *more* of a shooter LOL. I wonder where they're getting the feedback from?

 

[PatrickWeekes]

It largely means making the shooter parts of it run better. Many people enjoyed the Action RPG combat, but some people thought that the framerate drops made the combat less fun, or that it was too easy at some levels and too hard at other levels, in not-fun ways. As I've said elsewhere, the combat is already better than it was in the first game, and that's with much of it in very early stages.

If you don't like Action RPG combat, of course, this news doesn't really change much. It's going from a flavor you don't like to faster, cooler version of a flavor you don't like. As someone who hadn't played a shooter since Half-Life before coming onto the project, I think the story is worth trying out the new combat style for, but then, I'm hardly an unbiased observer.

 

[wolfing]

It largely means making the shooter parts of it run better. Many people enjoyed the Action RPG combat, but some people thought that the framerate drops made the combat less fun, or that it was too easy at some levels and too hard at other levels, in not-fun ways. As I've said elsewhere, the combat is already better than it was in the first game, and that's with much of it in very early stages.

If you don't like Action RPG combat, of course, this news doesn't really change much. It's going from a flavor you don't like to faster, cooler version of a flavor you don't like. As someone who hadn't played a shooter since Half-Life before coming onto the project, I think the story is worth trying out the new combat style for, but then, I'm hardly an unbiased observer.

Oh no, don't get me wrong. I played the original and liked it (as a shooter with some RPG). My comment was more on the line of people who say Mass Effect is an RPG, it's at most a Shooter/RPG. I realized that when I forgot to 'level up' for like hours (if I remember, I had like 18 points to distribute), yet I was having no problem at all. Another thing, I had a bunch of skills/spells that I never used, I just shot at things as if I was playing Half Life.
People think making decisions in the game makes it an RPG. I disagree, you can do that in a pure adventure game. If stats and skills don't matter, then it's not really an RPG (cRPG actually).
That's why I find funny that they said they'll make the sequel more a shooter, but I guess it's all in semantics.

 

[Maylander]

What framerate drops? Are we talking about the XBox or PC version? The only issue I ever encountered on the PC was a strange texture problem on the planet where you pick up Liara, but that was resolved quickly enough after a search on the BioWare forum.

Anyhow, I consider it naturally to evolve the gameplay (hopefully in addition to more variation when exploring the galaxy, but I suspect BW is well aware of that by now). While Baldur's Gate 1 had great combat, the whole combat experience in BG2 was somewhat.. smoother, with more options and less frustration.

 

[buckaroobonzai]

It largely means making the shooter parts of it run better. Many people enjoyed the Action RPG combat, but some people thought that the framerate drops made the combat less fun, or that it was too easy at some levels and too hard at other levels, in not-fun ways. As I've said elsewhere, the combat is already better than it was in the first game, and that's with much of it in very early stages.

If you don't like Action RPG combat, of course, this news doesn't really change much. It's going from a flavor you don't like to faster, cooler version of a flavor you don't like. As someone who hadn't played a shooter since Half-Life before coming onto the project, I think the story is worth trying out the new combat style for, but then, I'm hardly an unbiased observer.

Greetings, if you really are connected with Mass Effect 2, I would wish beyond reason (haha) that you would take these thoughts into consideration and maybe even pass them up the line (nudge nudge).

I do like MAss Effect, but I feel it could be so much more without the only sole purpose to make it a FPS first and foremost.

After playing it and letting the gameplay settle, I think it was missing many features that made both Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect's closest cousin KOTOR good games.

I feel Mass Effect is basically a FPS with some RPG elements all revolving around a Biowarian plot. But, when comparing it to KOTOR 1 & KOTOR 2 (even though Bio didn't make KT2), it lacks in gameplay aspects, mainly concerning variety.

KOTOR 1 had some mysteries to solve like the trial on the oceanic planet.
KOTOR 2 had the excellent grey character of Kreia, C. Avellone's masery at work there. It had its own little mysteries like finding a solution to the Peragus fuel explosion.

But, as far as gameplay, I think Mass Effect's biggest mistake is in the lack of real hacking and stealth gameplay.
Hacking was put to great use in the two KOTORs as you were able to find alternate routes, spy on various areas, disable sentry drones & cameras, eliminate certain enemies
You were also able to split and go solo from the party and go complete stealth for some of the missions opening up another style of gameply to add variety.

It was much better being able to play as T3 to do hacking or repair mission, or the other chgaracters for their specific misisons. In Mass Effect you only play as Shepard...
In KOTOR 2 you even had a mission as T3-M4 sneaking into the droid warehouse

Mass Effect was just exploring and shooting with story. It missed about half of the gameplay the KOTORs had. One gets tired of the gameplay in MAss Effect much earlier then the KOTORs.

And thats not even mentioning how Mass Effect can definitely use some inspiration from the oldies like: Starflight, Space Rogue, Sentinel Worlds: Future MAgic, Hard Nova, Protostar etc.

 

[PatrickWeekes]

People think making decisions in the game makes it an RPG. I disagree, you can do that in a pure adventure game. If stats and skills don't matter, then it's not really an RPG (cRPG actually).

I think, then, that your definition is different from the one that the people being interviewed are using. I'm not saying you're wrong, because "What makes an RPG?" is one of those lovely questions that gets people onto each other's ignore lists, but the folks at the upper level pretty clearly think that options in dialog and moral choices, when combined with point allocation and classlike character paths, qualify a game as an RPG.

(And hopefully changes to the system will make those skills and stats different enough that you actually do consider it a tradeoff. Can't promise that, because I'm a) not in charge, and b) mostly writing and haven't seen how much tweaking has been done.)

buckaroobonzai: Briefly: I respect your opinions, but a lot of what you're asking for isn't feasible in this game. Stealth isn't just something you casually add. If you watched the leaked video of level creation, then you've seen that we have levels built. Once levels are built, it's too late for stealth to be introduced at a level that is going to make developers happy these days. We could try to hack in buggy and clunky version of KotOR stealth (ie, I walk around with an invisibility cloak and nobody sees me), but this game plays closer to a shooter than an Aurora or Infinity-engine RPG, and with a shooter, you need something more like shooter stealth mechanics, which require levels that are designed from the ground up to support stealth.

I'm not trying to sandbag your opinion. I also don't want to look like I'm just casually sandbagging your suggestion -- but adding stealth would, without exaggeration, destroy any advantage we gained from doing a sequel in terms of reuse of assets and game mechanics, and would likely prevent us from meeting our goals without abusively short and simple levels. We'd rather make the game we made before better than make a completely new kind of game, and that's what adding stealth would be. (To those of you about to suggest that it's not that big a deal: yes. Really. I say this as a writer who has suggested stealth-type levels and gotten a very long and enthusiastic explanation about how many wrenches stealth gameplay throws into a game that isn't built from the ground up with stealth in mind.)

On the other hand, your concerns about varying gameplay types in terms of minigames rings true with what we heard from a lot of reviews after Mass Effect 1 game out. I hope we'll be able to show something soon that at least SUGGESTS that we're addressing your concerns.

 

[aries100]

I thought that in ME2 you could take cover like in Gears of War? in Gears, you apparently can take cover, then look out and shoot and take cover. This what I mean by stealth in ME2.

And Patrick is a writer at Bioware...

 

[PatrickWeekes]

I thought that in ME2 you could take cover like in Gears of War? in Gears, you apparently can take cover, then look out and shoot and take cover. This what I mean by stealth in ME2.

And Patrick is a writer at Bioware...

Oh, that? Yeah, that we got. When someone brings up stealth, the inside-the-company thought is stuff like Thief, where you've got varying stages of alertness and such. In ME, once you're in the room, stuff pretty much starts shooting at you. (And that's unlikely to change in ME2.)