Mass Effect 3 beta leaked

LOL! I have to agree with the captain!

Double facepalm

I see your Picard and raise you mine (I won't image the file, picture is too large).

http://www.justsaypictures.com/images/double-face-palm.jpg

You know, I can't help but say I knew this was coming. I could go into a long rant about what I dislike concerning ME3, but I didn't enjoy Mass Effect 2 so I really couldn't care less. Since the second installment, I sort of lost hope for the series as a result.

Of course, the game will score 10s across the board and Bioware fans will eat it up regardless. :/

"As most of you know by now, this evening an accidental leak occurred of some early Mass Effect 3 beta code. Microsoft has advised us that through human error at their end, content which was meant for internal beta testing was flagged incorrectly and released to individuals who had signed up for the beta of the Xbox Live dashboard update. It has since been taken down and deactivated.
We'd like to stress that the leaked code is in a rough, unfinished state and was not meant for public release. The content is not final, and is not reflective of the quality of the finished, polished game due for release on March 6, 2012 (March 9 in Europe).
One feature that was present in this early build is a set of game play modes that are in development. In the beta code they are referred to as "action mode", "story mode" and "RPG mode". We want to stress that these features are still in the early stages of development and will receive considerable iteration and refinement. These modes are designed to give players an even finer degree of control over their game experience than ever before. Whether it be someone who finds the combat difficult but wants to experience the amazing story, someone who wants to focus on the action and combat game play, or fans who want the rich, story-driven RPG Mass Effect experience they've come to love – Mass Effect 3 will support all of these options. We'll have more info in the days ahead!"

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I don't believe a thing they say anymore. At least they admitted those options will be in the final product. Get ready for all the we don't understand the opposition articles . Just like DA2.

Seems Bioware always takes 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I would love to see there design and planning meetings when they figure this crap out.

From Neogaf forums:

"Why don't they just admit what they're doing for once and include a Sex Mode where you just walk around the Normandy having sex with everybody"

Dez said:

From Neogaf forums:

"Why don't they just admit what they're doing for once and include a Sex Mode where you just walk around the Normandy having sex with everybody"

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lol

Considering the discussions in ME2 forum, indeed why didn't they put this in?

I think people are severely over reacting to the fact that there will be a play option that they do not want to use. Most people will play in "RPG Mode". But if you seriously think that there are not people to whom the action mode will appeal, then you seriously need to set foot outside of this forum sometimes.

I wonder if people flipped out so much whe they learned that KoTOR (and DA and ME) had an option to turn off character customization.

I'm confuse why the uproar. I kinda liked me1, didn't like me2 at all and won't be buying me3.

I figured me3 would only be made as story mode describes, so to have choices for different gameplay would seem like a good thing unless i'm missing something.

I wish they would have had an rpg mode for da2, instead of only an action mode.

fadedc said:

I think people are severely over reacting to the fact that there will be a play option that they do not want to use. Most people will play in "RPG Mode". But if you seriously think that there are not people to whom the action mode will appeal, then you seriously need to set foot outside of this forum sometimes.

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That's not really the problem. The problem I have is that by not explicitly going in one direction or the other, the game will ultimately not be great as either an RPG or as a straight-forward shooter. The idea of an RPG mode for fans of that genre and an action mode for people who just want combat/sex scenes might sound perfect on paper, but there's no way such a thing can be accomplished to a high enough level that will appeal to everyone; it would essentially require the development of two completely separate games considering how divergent the two approaches are. Just look at DA2: They tried to make a game that had enough action elements to draw in action fans while trying to still keep enough RPG mechanics to appease RPG fans. When a game lacks a decisive design - where the developers know exactly which experience they are trying to create (action or RPG) - the result is a product that suffers from an "identity crisis."

Nerevarine said:

That's not really the problem. The problem I have is that by not explicitly going in one direction or the other, the game will ultimately not be great as either an RPG or as a straight-forward shooter. The idea of an RPG mode for fans of that genre and an action mode for people who just want combat/sex scenes might sound perfect on paper, but there's no way such a thing can be accomplished to a high enough level that will appeal to everyone; it would essentially require the development of two completely separate games considering how divergent the two approaches are.

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I don´t think so.

Previous games in the series both followed the exact same "philosophy" and, as far as I can tell, they were both pretty successful. Sure, they certainly didn´t appeal to everyone, but that was a hyperbole, right?

If anything, it may be possible they´ve realized that having these toggles in place means they can make the major aspects more complex and still stay "mainstream", at least judging by what I´ve seen of ME3´s char development.

Also, every game that features difficulty settings has the "problem" you outlined above.

If ME3 ends up being the same crap as DA2, it won´t be because it has action/story/RPG presets.

I'm really curious right now how the gaming press will react to it.
Rather not online sites, but - in my case - rather printed mags.

I understand what you are saying, but I think you are over reacting quite a bit. The only thing they are doing that is different is adding the ability to turn off story dialog choices. It's not like they are trying to design two completely seperate types of games. They are just letting people who rage about all the dialog and interaction in ME (and there are lots of those people) have a way to turn it off.

Everything else is nothing new. You can turn off RPG customization, that's been in every Bioware game since KoTOR and nobody complained about it. And you can set the combat to easy and just focus on the story, that's also been in most Bioware games and in fact most games in general.

Nerevarine said:

That's not really the problem. The problem I have is that by not explicitly going in one direction or the other, the game will ultimately not be great as either an RPG or as a straight-forward shooter. The idea of an RPG mode for fans of that genre and an action mode for people who just want combat/sex scenes might sound perfect on paper, but there's no way such a thing can be accomplished to a high enough level that will appeal to everyone; it would essentially require the development of two completely separate games considering how divergent the two approaches are. Just look at DA2: They tried to make a game that had enough action elements to draw in action fans while trying to still keep enough RPG mechanics to appease RPG fans. When a game lacks a decisive design - where the developers know exactly which experience they are trying to create (action or RPG) - the result is a product that suffers from an "identity crisis."

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DeepO said:

I don´t think so.

Previous games in the series both followed the exact same "philosophy" and, as far as I can tell, they were both pretty successful. Sure, they certainly didn´t appeal to everyone, but that was a hyperbole, right?
.

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I see your point, but here's my take on it: ME1 was more or less an RPG with shooter elements designed mostly for fans of RPGs. ME2 was more or less a shooter with minor RPG elements designed more for shooter fans. ME3 is trying to combine the two philosophies into one, and I just don't see how it can work. Keep in mind I don't think it will be a terrible game, I just don't think a game exists that can be everything to everybody.

DeepO said:

If anything, it may be possible they´ve realized that having these toggles in place means they can make the major aspects more complex and still stay "mainstream", at least judging by what I´ve seen of ME3´s char development.

Also, every game that features difficulty settings has the "problem" you outlined above.
.

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This is a very optimistic view on this, and I don't want to fault anyone for avoiding the immediate cynical viewpoint. Personally, I wouldn't expect the RPG mechanics to be vastly more complex in "RPG mode" vs. Action mode because of what I said in my previous post: That would require a lot of development time and essentially would require every area of the game to be designed twice from the ground up in order to maximize both the "action" and "RPG" modes. Also, difficulty settings are quite a bit different in functionality when compared to entirely different "gameplay modes." Games that have difficulty settings change - well, the difficulty, not the fundamental gameplay design.

fadedc said:

I understand what you are saying, but I think you are over reacting quite a bit. The only thing they are doing that is different is adding the ability to turn off story dialog choices. It's not like they are trying to design two completely seperate types of games. They are just letting people who rage about all the dialog and interaction in ME (and there are lots of those people) have a way to turn it off.

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I wouldn't say I'm overreacting - I don't think ME3 will be a terrible game by any stretch, just as I think ME2 was a good game that simply didn't appeal to me.

No, they aren't trying to design to completely separate games, but that's essentially what it would take to make a game with "ultimate universal appeal" for both RPG fans and shooter fans. As I said above, I believe that would require a lot of development time and essentially would require every area of the game to be designed twice from the ground up in order to maximize both the "action" and "RPG" modes. Players who want to completely skip the story/RPG bits will miss out on a lot of what the game has to offer, and players who would want at least a return to ME1's RPG mechanics will not magically get this by toggling an option in a menu.

fadedc said:

I think people are severely over reacting to the fact that there will be a play option that they do not want to use. Most people will play in "RPG Mode". But if you seriously think that there are not people to whom the action mode will appeal, then you seriously need to set foot outside of this forum sometimes.

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Of course there people to whom the action mode will appeal. That's not what some of us are reacting to. It's the fact that Bioware is obviously trying to appeal to multiple genre crowds, and some people are understandably concerned that it might mean we're not getting as good of an RPG.

Is there a mode for auto-combat and auto-conversation options? Ideally it should also run by itself when minimised.

Nerevarine said:

This is a very optimistic view on this, and I don't want to fault anyone for avoiding the immediate cynical viewpoint. Personally, I wouldn't expect the RPG mechanics to be vastly more complex in "RPG mode" vs. Action mode because of what I said in my previous post: That would require a lot of development time and essentially would require every area of the game to be designed twice from the ground up in order to maximize both the "action" and "RPG" modes.

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Yes, it is sorta optimistic of me, but otherwise I´m fairly cautious in regards to ME3 due to other circumstances, like multiplayer or DA2 .

What also makes me somewhat optimistic are pictures like these:
and some other tidbits, like that apparently health doesn´t regenerate to full automatically, instead a DE:HR´s battery-like system seems to be used, etc.

But make no mistake, I´ll be quite surprised if they´ll manage to deliver a satisfying conclusion story- and consequence-wise, but I really don´t think the action toggle will be a culprit if they won´t.

That said, have you seen the picture I´ve posted on the previous page?
The "modes" are just quickstart configuration presets, nothing more.
Basically, they built the game only "once" and added options to switch off/streamline/easify various aspects afterwards.

The two new options are helmet toggle and active participation in dialogues toggle. The helmet toggle is obviously a feature way too huge for this thread, so what were left with here is the possibility of dialogue automation which raises question whether the narrative in the game wasn´t affected in a way to make such an option implementable. And as I´ve already noted in one of my previous posts, I don´t think there´s necessarily any connotation here as this could be done for a lot of games, even the C&C-heavy ones, without affecting the dialogues for those who wouldn´t use it. If the dialogues will be streamlined or whatever, it very likely won´t be because of the toggle, but because Bioware sucks .

Nerevarine said:

Also, difficulty settings are quite a bit different in functionality when compared to entirely different "gameplay modes." Games that have difficulty settings change - well, the difficulty, not the fundamental gameplay design.

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It usually doesn´t change the fundaments, but it does change the importance/influence of these and can make some redundant.
Say, easy difficulty setting in The Witcher. Means you can assign talents blindfold, totally ignore alchemy and you´ll still get through the combat just by clicking when a sword icon appears. Setting the game on easy effectively means you´re in the story mode and can safely ignore character development.
I think this holds true even more for The Witcher 2.

Set Civilization IV on the lowest (settler) difficulty. Strategy? What strategy?

It´s not exactly the same thing, but the principle is in my opinion similar.
Playing on lowest difficulty settings usually, at least nowadays, means that you don´t have to care about some gameplay aspects and that´s pretty much what letting dialogue choices to be automated results in.

Anyway, I´m over-posting now, but personally I have a hard time reading anything substantial into these new revelations .

Oh look another shooter. (/fake_surprise)

And anything that requires Origin to run...yeah thanks no.

Bioware(EA) is as much Bioware as Atari(Infogrames) is Atari today. In other words, that company no longer exists.

JDR13 said:

Of course there people to whom the action mode will appeal. That's not what some of us are reacting to. It's the fact that Bioware is obviously trying to appeal to multiple genre crowds, and some people are understandably concerned that it might mean we're not getting as good of an RPG.

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But that's the thing, you view this as people trying to appeal to multiple genre crowds when in reality it's the exact same thing they have done in every game since KoTOR with the exception of adding an option to simplify dialog. If you actually read what the different modes consist of, rather then just jumping to conclusions because in the leaked beta one is called RPG mode and one is called action mode, then you would understand that. They are not trying to create seperate action and RPG games. They just have the same options to turn off RPG customization that all of their games for the last 10 or so years have had.

Nerevarine said:

No, they aren't trying to design to completely separate games, but that's essentially what it would take to make a game with "ultimate universal appeal" for both RPG fans and shooter fans. .

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Which would be a reasonable point if there was any evidence to suggest that they are trying to appeal to RPG and shooter fans any more then previously. But there is no evidence for that at all. There is just an option to turn off RPG customization, just like every ME game had before it.

Again your over reactng and reading too much into the fact that there is a mode called "RPG" and a mode called "action". If you actually read the difference between the two you will see that not much has changed.

fadedc said:

If you actually read what the different modes consist of, rather then just jumping to conclusions because in the leaked beta one is called RPG mode and one is called action mode, then you would understand that. They are not trying to create seperate action and RPG games.

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I understand it just fine, thank you. You seem to be the one who doesn't get it.

No one is claiming that they made two separate games, just that they seem to be trying to make a "jack of all trades" type game, which is something a lot of people here don't want. Most of the concern is probably more from the progression of the series since ME1, rather than a few screenshots of the Beta. The screens only serve to remind us of the direction that Bioware has been going.

System Shock 1 had done something similar with its four difficulty sliders back then. So I'd say let's not get hysteric about those features unless they have proven horrible in the actual game.
Personally, I'm thinking about getting hysteric because of the Origin sniffer supposed to come along with it.