EA Boss Says Mass Effect: Andromeda Got Too Much Criticism, Franchise Could Return

Or those on the praise side are less likely to use hyperbole in general

I think Patrick's response was very fair. It was actually very similar to my own thoughts that I posted in various threads around the forum. It's nice to know that the franchise isn't necessarily gone for good, but it's still sad.

That being said, I think this gives us fans an opportunity. If EA wants to make Mass Effect fresh and relevant again, we should try and help by providing constructive suggestions to do just that. Asking for ME3's ending to change or to make Andromeda non-canon is a non-starter. We need to be realistic and productive, not volatile and obstructive. If we can get an open and honest dialogue with the devs going, regarding what we want and how it could be done, then we might see another Mass Effect sooner, rather than later.

I believe that bakgrind was referencing the honest truth in your comment. Your comment sums up a huge part of this game's problems.

I know people get annoyed by this type of blunt delivery, but it's a fair conclusion. EA doesn't care about anything but profit. If the game were hitting goals, regardless of some inevitable "haters", we'd probably be playing DLC now. BioWare Montreal likely would've already started initial phase of creating a sequel. The game didn't sell well enough, though. Clearly, there weren't enough of us to outweigh the technical issues and bad press that killed sales.

I'd buy a sequel, assuming that they delivered a more polished game. That said, I think it's worthwhile to understand what happened to kill MEA. It wasn't a single thing. Many factors were at work, and BioWare left the door open by releasing a rushed, unfinished game.

or they decided to try something new. Or they were thinking about making dlc but changed their mind because they don't think it'd be profitable.

I just find it weird...this game was such a massive failure that they are...continuing to expand upon its story. Sure not through a single player dlc like we wanted. Probably not with a full game but EA and bioware is clearly putting some resources towards the franchise.

What else are they supposed to say? "Are game is shite and move on." I don't take much credit into him "being honest". There supposed to say that with every game they publish. Otherwise, you're not giving the gamer much faith in the product to begin with if you're "being honest". To me, it sounds more like damage control after Saturday's debacle.

While I never personally believed Mass Effect was going to be permanently shelved, it's reassuring to see EA still sees the property as valuable. This merely reinforces my belief that once Anthem and DA4 are released, Casey will build a team to reinvent Mass Effect and do the series the justice it deserves. I cannot wait to see what the folks in Edmonton come up with.

DA:I received too little criticism, so it balances out I guess (for the record I think DA:I is a much better game as a whole than ME:A). EA should be the last people to say "the game received too much criticism", if the game has flaws they may well be known and if nothing else works (as the case with EA) we vote through our wallet.

There are things he said that still rub me the wrong way and feels more like he's appeasing those who loved the game and/or those who blame fans.

“I think the game is actually a great game. Yes, we have to acknowledge the fact that there were some things that maybe we could have done better, absolutely, but as a whole, if you go in and you buy the game today with everything that’s in it today, I believe that that’s a game worth buying, personally.”

Well of course the state of the game NOW is better than how it was when it was released - when it got the full burnt of the criticism. Also he claims that the game is worth playing but it's not worth EA/BioWare's to do anything else with SP any more? So I guess it's not worth their money but our mone- OH! I get it now. Maybe if they'd just delay the game a few more months then perhaps the game would've been received better. But no EA wants everyone to get involved with Anthem because we desperately need another MMO style shooter. No matter how interested or exited you are for Anthem I'm pretty sure that canceling SP for Andromeda is gonna hurt it in someway. I personally don't WISH it to fail but I doubt I'd be too happy if it winds up being a success. Also I still find a bit funny how there still pushing in multiplayer - totally not because of microtransactions - because wouldn't that kinda damage any player count? I mean if you love it more power to you but it's only a matter of time when it's gonna die following this news. Hell, I can barley get a full game anyway.

Also this -

"The [second] thing I’ll say is, for Mass Effect as a franchise, that has such a big fanbase, and you know I’ve seen people saying ‘Oh, EA’s not making another Mass Effect’. I see no reason why we shouldn’t come back to Mass Effect. Why not? It’s a spectacular universe, it’s a loved [series], it has a big fanbase, and it’s a game that has done a lot for EA and for BioWare."

Then...why not just make the damn single player content? Just delay Anthem for a few mon- (sigh). You know a lot of people want to blame fans for this game's failure - hehe - but really shouldn't they be more mad at BioWare for listening to the haters then those who loved the game or themselves for not being louder than jaded fans? I mean I didn't outright crucify this game but I'm sure ass hell not gonna blame the fans for this game being as mediocre as it is. 

The combat was bad only if you were hoping to be able to equip every power in the game at once and exploration in general in this game is considered bad if you have severe adhd. I agree about the writing 100%. If the writing in ME2 was this bad the game would be urinesoaked dogshit, but most here won't feel that way because of the memberberries.

The combat was okay, but those looking for TACTICAL combat (which was a staple of Bioware’s earlier games) would have found it lacking.

The exploration was dull because the environment was dull and empty, the loot was meh, and it is not exciting to try and look for the one magical path up a mountain in a world that doesn’t suck you in, for cookie cutter side quests, or for loot that isn’t rewarding. The exploration in Skyrim is also not for those with ADHD but it's rewarding because Bethesda knows how to build worlds[1], whereas Bioware knows how to build stories. 

[1] Although the exploration in Oblivion sucked because of random loot, level scaling, and an empty generic world. They took the backlash on their forums on board and knocked it out of the park with Skyrim ... because shitting things up in Fallout 4.

Then, by your arbitrary definition of a broken game, the Witcher 3 is a broken game.  I was unable to finish certain sidequests due to enemies falling through the ground or some glitch robbing me of my ability to draw either of my swords.  I experienced the bug that erased your gamesave and saw numerous NPC's just pop out of existence in the backgrounds of certain conversations.  One of my treasure hunts was permanently incompletable (it is still bugged to this day) and the game would regularly crash on me, usually preceded by a black screen or a loading screen.  Yet, somehow, myself and many others think that the Witcher 3 is damn-near a masterpiece of a video game.  Funny how that worked out.

I don't think people are claiming that Andromeda wasn't buggy or that you're lying.  If they are, they shouldn't be because that is simply untrue.  However, parading examples of occasional bugs experienced by a small percentage of players and claiming that it's representative of a 20-60 hour game is disingenuous at the very least.  I hope we can at least agree on that.