Mass Effect 3 - Save import problems, Metacritic woes, MP impact

If Mass Effect 3 isn't the biggest thing in your life today, you aren't doing it right it seems. Here's a handful of miscellaneous odds and sods.
First various sites are complaining the X360 save game import feature is broken, which EA has confirmed:

While Mass Effect 3 supports cloud saving for new or successfully imported Mass Effect 2 saves, it does not support the importation of endgame saves directly from the cloud. Additionally, this can cause it to not recognize save files that have been transferred via cloud to a console other than the one where they originated.

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It looks like disenchanted players (or those with a certain political agenda?) have targeted the Metacritic score, possibly for including a gay romance scene. The user score is currently 2.4, which may please some, but just goes to show review consolidation sites are as unreliable as the games press. Thanks, CVG.
Lastly, PC Gamer unveils just exactly how the multiplayer impacts the single-player portion, with the Readiness rating having a tangible impact on your SP game:

Mass Effect 3 is about a war with the Reapers, and as you play the single player game, the people and armies whose help you earn count as War Assets. The game’s still story-driven, and it doesn’t end until you’ve completed the main series of missions. But when you do, what happens in the final cut-scene depends on how many War Assets you have accumulated.
That part is kind of cool. But the balance is incredibly harsh: I did every proper quest I could find in Mass Effect 3, made sensible decisions that didn’t conflict with my choices in the previous games, and brought people together. But I still got a gallingly bleak ending.
That’s because I’d never played the multiplayer. It’s a co-op mode where you and up to three other players have to survive waves of AI enemies and complete objectives. If you succeed, you get an increase to your Readiness rating – a percentage by which your single player War Assets are multiplied by. These are specific to each sector fo the galaxy, so if you have a lot of War Assets in the Terminus Systems, you’ll gain more by playing on a multiplayer map set in the Terminus Systems.

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More information.

I don't know but I read a lot of the reader comments and the ones who don't even address the homosexuality topic are completely infuriated about the quality of the game. i think many of these people take their gaming seriously or at least as many as do here. Huge difference between what they are saying and all these reviews with some what inflated scores. Point is, if this game is any good then why all the uproar? I know for me, when you see reviews of 10/10 popping up, somethings rotten here. I was turned off by the graphics of the demo but I don't really care for the lack of end game choices unless you play multiplayer.
It went from a certain eventual buy to wait and see for me.

And they are reporting bugs too? Priceless.

By 'quality of the game' are you referring to the fact that it's a significant improvement on both ME1 and ME2? Because it's got more crunchy RPG bits than ME1 and smoother gameplay and UI than ME2.

Can't speak to the ending because it's only been out for literally 14 hours, which makes me wonder how everyone else is getting so pissed off about it?

I can't speak from personal experience but I find it hard to believe the game significantly "worse" than Mass Effect 2, which has a user Metacritic of 8.9. Sites I trust - such as Rock, Paper, Shotgun, have not found overwhelming flaws.

Yes, it is possible (probable?) that 10/10 scores are excessive but "rotten" is equally overkill, as is a score of 2.5. That is clearly being manipulated and gamers should acknowledge user scores are no more reliable than professional reviews.

So, why all the uproar? Because a group with a vested interest has decided to manipulate the score to suit their agenda.

I had no intention of buying this for myself, but got it as a late Valentine's gift, and so far I'm enjoying it. I had no problem importing my ME 2 save.


-Carn

MP Mode : The MP crowd has won. Their constant bickering and scheming that devs should incorporate an MP mode to every thinkable game on this planet has finally succeeded.

Sorry, but I'm in a cynical mood right now.

Smoother gameplay?

There are dozens of posts like this and worse. I haven't played it either. But calling it a conspiracy is ridiculous

No, it's not. Do you honestly think that post proves a >70% reduction in the score? Be reasonable.

I wouldn't call it "conspiracy", but obviously Bioware has suffered quite a bit of backlash over the last year, and some gamers are fed up with Bioware/EA.

So basically between the Bioware backslash and the whole Origin thing, that's what happening here : people who most likely haven't even touched the game who go and post trash just to lower the game's rating.

Which is pathethic and puerile.

I'm not saying there aren't legitimate negative comments of course, but let's be serious a minute, the game has been out for less than day, and not even everywhere in the world.

There's nothing in ME3 that I can see that warrants a 2/10 rating really especially when you see how highly rated ME2 is and how ME3 is basically an improved Mass Effect 2.

-Sergorn

The score does not- the terrible input shows something else in huge contrast to the stupid love the reviews are spewing forth. All these gamers are not part of an Anti-Bioware conspiracy, sorry I can't buy that. What I am reading are hugely disappointed ME fans about a flawed and unfinished, unpolished product. Much like Dragon Age 2.

The demo was enough to convince me that I should wait before buying this. And seriously, why add a multiplayer mode? And Action Mode (or whatever its called)? Again - trying to be everything to everyone, just like DA2. I really think Bioware is ruled by the Great Eye now (you know the one, wreathed in flame etc) Not too surprising of course - I'm curious to see what they will be churning out in a few years….

As for the scores - sorry - but all those 10/10's are simply unbelievable.

Sergorn said:

There's nothing in ME3 that I can see that warrants a 2/10 rating really especially when you see how highly rated ME2 is and how ME3 is basically an improved Mass Effect 2.

-Sergorn

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I think many would dispute the 'improved ME2' bit ;-) I only played the demo, but the controls felt awkward (cover system), gfx were not really improved, and the gameplay otherwise seemed a carbon copy of the last title - almost felt like an ME2 mod or DLC....

redman5427 said:

The score does not- the terrible input shows something else in huge contrast to the stupid love the reviews are spewing forth. All these gamers are not part of an Anti-Bioware conspiracy, sorry I can't buy that. What I am reading are hugely disappointed ME fans about a flawed and unfinished, unpolished product. Much like Dragon Age 2.

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I think you're seeing what you want to see. If people can't score realistically, you can't trust their comments, either.

Dhruin said:

If Mass Effect 3 isn't the biggest thing in your life today, you aren't doing it right it seems.

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I'm proud to do it wrong, then.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

MP Mode : The MP crowd has won. Their constant bickering and scheming that devs should incorporate an MP mode to every thinkable game on this planet has finally succeeded.

Sorry, but I'm in a cynical mood right now.

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Well, at least there won't be any MP mode of the MP mode .

So all that would be true of reviewers as well? People like to ream first time companies but I think the ones that have been around should be held to a higher standard and improve each new version. I think Bethesda raised the bar with Skyrim(except for the bugs) This doesn't sound like much has been raised except for the amount of paid DLC.
I will wait for more impressions, especially from here, before I purchase though. i don't believe any game should be given a 0 or a one for that matter also. To be fair, there are some 5-7 scores as well from people there as well.

Dhruin said:

I think you're seeing what you want to see. If people can't score realistically, you can't trust their comments, either.

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I can understand why someone who was frustrated with the game and thought it deserved no more than 4-6/10 would rate it a 0 or a 1 as backlash against those straight 10/10 reviews from "pros", their attempt to restore balance.

Not saying that's necessarily the case but what makes you think that it's mostly some anti male-on-male romance lobby? I mean it's not like the rpg genre has been lacking in fruitcake romance precedents, in fact I think male Sheppard and Gerald were the only remaining straight protagonists, protesting it now would be getting a bit late to the biosexual party.

Ah its nice to be proven right. We can thank EA since the game was finished last year then they added origin and demanded the mp segment. Just Google the article about its delay from last year.

I made a topic about a month ago saying you will be extremely handicapped if you don't play mp or the co-op missions. People called me a liar and said they believed Bioware and not me.

Its not the worst and I was surprised and entertained by it but the mp influencing the sp has me shaking my head and losing more faith in Bioware. I dread what DA3 will be like given there current trend.

I'm gonna wait a bit with Mass Effect 3, not because of those reviews which may or may not contain good points but I'd like to reward the games I'd like to see more of by buying them full-price on the day of release and Mass Effect 3 is not one of them.

The removal of RPG elements and laughable ending in ME2, the graphical issues in the demo, and forced inclusion of multiplayer are not things I want to reward so.

Even without specific issues the type of RPG Mass Effect is is different from my near-ideal one (Morrowind, then Skyrim), but if it didn't have other things working against it I could have been persuaded.

A sale on the day of release is the ultimate stamp of aproval in this industry, not always for the game since you buy it before you actually know what you buy. A day-one sale is down to two things:

-PR machine (this includes previews and reviews and word of mouth)
-Previous work / Track record (franchise, studio, key people, publisher, etc.)

I've personally stopped listening to qualification comments (how great questions) in the PR machine and only take note of quantification comments (how). I'd rather be the judge of the greatnesss of how. Ofcourse, with new IPs you're in large part bound to the PR machine since there is an incomplete frame of reference.

The trade-off of not buying is having no right to critisise the game in detail so I'll be missing out on most of the discussions here.

Dhruin said:

I think you're seeing what you want to see. If people can't score realistically, you can't trust their comments, either.

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I do think that most people are incapable of using a 10 point score. It's either the greatest thing ever or the worst thing ever.

It sucks for people who are nuanced (and I think a greater portion of 10/10s are nuanced than the 0-4/10s) but a majority can't handle it,

I haven't played it so I won't score it but despite the things I'm dreading the most, even with those expected faults I think it still would be in the 6-8 out of 10 range.

I also think there are several anti-ME3 'campaigns' that have nothing to do with an LGBT issue. Some seem to be campaigning against the inclusion of multiplayer, others are campaigning since they think EA-Bioware went too far with launch-day paid DLC (and all the inclusion of an immense amount of DLC with Razor hardware and other stuff).

Maybe it's my lack of English knowledge but do you consider all three 'political agenda' or just the first one since that is the only one that seeps over from actual political views?

Sergorn said:

So basically between the Bioware backslash and the whole Origin thing, that's what happening here : people who most likely haven't even touched the game who go and post trash just to lower the game's rating.

Which is pathethic and puerile.

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^This. These are purely "political" votes, mostly directed against Origin since hating on Origin seems to be the "in" thing these days. Then add some anti-EA, anti-BioWare and anti-ME for good measure and you end up with a score as low as that.
It will take a while before this initial mass effect (pun intended ) of hate-dom is going to balance out with the votes from people who have actually played the game and rate the actual game itself.