Mass Effect 3 - Series Origins Interview @ GameInformer

The Gameinformer site always slows my whole system down. Does anyone else have that problem?

As for sequels, it really depends. Sometimes the scenario and the characters are interesting enough for me to want to know more. Some of the best RPGs are sequels, and if done right, it is a great feeling to encounter an old friend or get back to an old location. Ultima 7 was full of these moments, and so were Gothic 2 and other great titles.

What I don't like is when a game's plot is left unfinished simply because a sequel is planned. Open endings are fine, but games should have a self-contained story.

What I also can't stand it when games tell a well-rounded story and the sequel messees up with it. Bioshock 2 for example was a huge mitake, IMO.
 
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I hate how lazy it became, no text, a video is slow to watch, I don't have the time damit. >:O
 
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Maybe they're forgetting they're coming out with SWToR soonish, which is supposed to have something like 12 times the content :)

So, while not a trilogy - I don't think big scopes are forgotten forever, because Bio don't want to repeat their Mass Effect concept.

Aside from the obvious marketing bullshit angle, there's no reason to believe you can predict what will happen in the industry, especially long-term.

The way the industry is, right now, is not a good indicator for the future entire.

In any case, I'm not sure why such a trilogy shouldn't happen again. The industry is shock full of sequel upon sequel, and I think it's quite arguable that something like The Witcher could become a trilogy of even greater size - assuming the developers of it want that to be. It certainly seems that they're doing great things in terms of far-reaching C&C.

So, I call a bit of bullshit and self-glorification on that.

What they probably really mean, is that under the new EA/profit-is-all structure, it's not necessary to focus on big intricate trilogies to generate maximum profit.
 
Maybe they're forgetting they're coming out with SWToR soonish, which is supposed to have something like 12 times the content :)

With a $15 a month asking price and no offline play.
 
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With a $15 a month asking price and no offline play.

True enough, but unless you have a problem being online - I'd say that's a vastly better deal than buying three separate games for 12 times less content, especially considering the multiplayer features, if you want to avail yourself of them.

No one says you have to stay subscribed after having completed the content.

In fact, I smell a far-reaching "subtle" campaign for their SWToR game - and I expect most things coming out in public from them to be an effort to direct their audience towards SWToR.

They have a HUGE investment to consider, and they clearly have a lot riding on that title alone.

Call me cynical, but that's what I get from this :)
 
I'm not going to watch video, but when I read 'trilogy' I understand he means three games continuing the same storyline not just three sequels. This doesn't happen too often, and if that's what he means then he might be right. When the target is the mainstream, it's not unreasonable to expect that people might refuse to play a game that's some years old just to follow the story of a new one.
 
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I'm not going to watch video, but when I read 'trilogy' I understand he means three games continuing the same storyline not just three sequels. This doesn't happen too often, and if that's what he means then he might be right. When the target is the mainstream, it's not unreasonable to expect that people might refuse to play a game that's some years old just to follow the story of a new one.

I know what he means, but I honestly don't see anything that would PREVENT some other developer from doing the same thing.

It's not like it's a revelation that creating a trilogy with C&C that passes through all three games, is a big undertaking. It still doesn't mean it can't happen again.

It depends on your motivation as a developer, and I have no doubt Bioware have changed in the interim.
 
True enough, but unless you have a problem being online - I'd say that's a vastly better deal than buying three separate games for 12 times less content, especially considering the multiplayer features, if you want to avail yourself of them.

I just mean the investment makes more sense because of the potential profit. Mass Effect 3 is going to sell 2 or 3 million units at $60 and they know that, they plan around it.

Me personally I'm not that interested in TOR because I am a singleplayer gamer. I do admit though it's the one MMO coming out I have some interest in, due to how story focused it is supposed to be. Paying $15 a month to play it singleplayer is a huge turn-off though, as is it not being a game I will be able to replay down the road.
 
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I just mean the investment makes more sense because of the potential profit. Mass Effect 3 is going to sell 2 or 3 million units at $60 and they know that, they plan around it.

I'm pretty sure the end-result is a mighty decent profit, but of course it's not the optimal way of generating cash for minimum effort. That's what I said in my first post.

Me personally I'm not that interested in TOR because I am a singleplayer gamer. I do admit though it's the one MMO coming out I have some interest in, due to how story focused it is supposed to be. Paying $15 a month to play it singleplayer is a huge turn-off though, as is it not being a game I will be able to replay down the road.

I'm not sure what you mean. You could always resubscribe and replay at your leisure and you'd still need to buy 3 separate games for trilogies like Mass Effect several times over to get similar "play" out of the investment.

Still, I don't mean to persuade you to play the game. I just personally don't see it as a bad deal - if it turns out it's "on par" with quality games like Mass Effect and KotOR.
 
Still, I don't mean to persuade you to play the game. I just personally don't see it as a bad deal - if it turns out it's "on par" with quality games like Mass Effect and KotOR.

I'll be hugely surprised if the game turns out on par with ME or Kotor. Simply the fact that it's an online game means that they have to provide a lot of content to keep people playing it. Now if the content is similar to other MMORPGs (and I haven't seen any evidence that this isn't the case) then a lot of quests will be more or less repetitive, the story will be drawn out like hell and it'll take a lot of time to reach end game (and thus the end of the storyline).

And I'm more prepared to shell out 150€ for Mass Effect 1-3 to play the games for about 60-80 hours (depending on the length of the third game and not counting second or third playtroughs) instead of spending 50€ + 10€/month for 300h of MMO gameplay.

Now if The Old Republic would work like Guild Wars 2 (aka buy the Game and no subscription) I would be far more willing to spend money on the game.
 
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I'll be hugely surprised if the game turns out on par with ME or Kotor. Simply the fact that it's an online game means that they have to provide a lot of content to keep people playing it. Now if the content is similar to other MMORPGs (and I haven't seen any evidence that this isn't the case) then a lot of quests will be more or less repetitive, the story will be drawn out like hell and it'll take a lot of time to reach end game (and thus the end of the storyline).

And I'm more prepared to shell out 150€ for Mass Effect 1-3 to play the games for about 60-80 hours (depending on the length of the third game and not counting second or third playtroughs) instead of spending 50€ + 10€/month for 300h of MMO gameplay.

Now if The Old Republic would work like Guild Wars 2 (aka buy the Game and no subscription) I would be far more willing to spend money on the game.

I'm not really expecting it to meet KotOR standards, either.

But they've been EXTREMELY adamant during previews/interviews about that being their goal, and that it would go beyond those games.

We'll see.
 
I'll be hugely surprised if the game turns out on par with ME or Kotor. Simply the fact that it's an online game means that they have to provide a lot of content to keep people playing it. Now if the content is similar to other MMORPGs (and I haven't seen any evidence that this isn't the case) then a lot of quests will be more or less repetitive, the story will be drawn out like hell and it'll take a lot of time to reach end game (and thus the end of the storyline).

And I'm more prepared to shell out 150€ for Mass Effect 1-3 to play the games for about 60-80 hours (depending on the length of the third game and not counting second or third playtroughs) instead of spending 50€ + 10€/month for 300h of MMO gameplay.

Now if The Old Republic would work like Guild Wars 2 (aka buy the Game and no subscription) I would be far more willing to spend money on the game.
I'm pretty certain a lot of the content is tied up in "parallel" stories for each class so what you'll actually see is far less than the total content. Expect 4-6 weeks of semi-casual play to finish that content. The rest will be dungeons, raids, tradeskills, etc., so you can still play the game for its story content and just end subscription when you finish that.
 
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I'm not sure what you mean. You could always resubscribe and replay at your leisure and you'd still need to buy 3 separate games for trilogies like Mass Effect several times over to get similar "play" out of the investment.

I just mean one day the game will no longer exist. Games I bought 20 years ago still have value and can be played. TOR will not be, barring some kind of amazing offline mod made after it shuts down.
 
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I just mean one day the game will no longer exist. Games I bought 20 years ago still have value and can be played. TOR will not be, barring some kind of amazing offline mod made after it shuts down.

Ultima Online, as the first really popular MMO, is still running more than 14 years post release. The same is the case for pretty much all other commercial MMOs - but there are no guarentees, that's true.

But but, I get that you just don't like MMOs and that's fine :)

Again, I'm not trying to dissuade you from sticking to SP games. It's not healthy to move to MMOs, as they can become quite addictive.

What's worse, is that I have a hard time enjoying SP games after having played some of the best MMOs. It's just too limited in some way.

I wish I could go back to where I was, seeing as how there are so few strong MMOs on the horizon - but lots of great SP games.
 
I just wish I liked MMOs, because I would love to explore those worlds. I bought and played WoW as a singleplayer game (I leveled to max and quit) and it was somewhat fun, not great. TOR having a real story will hopefully make it better and I do plan on it being the second MMO I play.

The genre as a whole though just ain't for me.
 
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I just wish I liked MMOs, because I would love to explore those worlds. I bought and played WoW as a singleplayer game (I leveled to max and quit) and it was somewhat fun, not great. TOR having a real story will hopefully make it better and I do plan on it being the second MMO I play.

The genre as a whole though just ain't for me.

I feel the same way. I tried MMOs and couldn't be immersed in them. It all about raids and collecting all the high level gear. I fear even with TOR despite what they say it will be the same. No offence to MMOs players. I would rather buy 10 rpgs for $60 and be immersed than become an addict to a game that never ends.
 
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MMOs aren't all like that, but since WoW - the vast majority of them have been.

That said, playing an MMO alone is like having sex alone :)

The only reason I got addicted for a while, was because my ex got hooked along with me. Turned out it was not all good, though.

The entire genre is one big paradox, if you ask me.

I can only recommend you stay away.
 
MMOs aren't all like that, but since WoW - the vast majority of them have been.

That said, playing an MMO alone is like having sex alone :)

The only reason I got addicted for a while, was because my ex got hooked along with me. Turned out it was not all good, though.

The entire genre is one big paradox, if you ask me.

I can only recommend you stay away.


On that I can agree. I think guild wars got it right. You buy the game and can play it with no subscription. All the people will be in the city zones and you weren't bothered on the quests unless someone joined you.
 
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I just mean one day the game will no longer exist. Games I bought 20 years ago still have value and can be played. TOR will not be, barring some kind of amazing offline mod made after it shuts down.

That's basically what puts me off of MMOs in general.

It's basically that "server-sided thing". I just can't take it to my home and play it at any time like ancient games through DOSBOX.

(But the emulation of Directx is a problem of its own ...)
 
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