Is the BioWare/Mass Effect fanbase really filled with triggered snowflakes?

It's an interesting list. Do we have consensus on which points ME:A failed?

MEA was heavily trashtalked even before its release. It's very naive to assume that its market was not hit by all the negative press. It's even more naive to believe that the negative press did not negatively reinforce the preconceptions people had about the game.

Ultimately, other games did better because either goals or expectations were different.

DAO is the best example of that. Objectively DAI was of much better quality on release, but people were far more harsh on DAI because standards are much higher now.

Again I believe that BioWare needs to focus their efforts on a few key RPG goals. They should not try to encompass everything. No other RPG attempts to do this. It's a sure set-up to failure in today's markets.

Right. That's what I'm saying. What people expect the most from BioWare are companions and content dedicated to them.

They need to focus on that. They seem to have diverted that focus to fulfill other RPG goals, and that has been detrimental.

Once again, it's not entitlement. It's what many Bioware players expect, based on previous experiences with the company. They sold a new product and failed to deliver on what made them great and nearly exclusive. A paid product, mind you. Entitlement only kicks in if people start to bitch and moan over some freebies.

Well it looks like Bioware is once again forgoing companions in Anthem to focus on multiplayer.

What's interesting is very recently herd someone say ME2 was and still is the worst Mass Effect game. This was the reason they cited. Interesting how people view games differently.

Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one That's what I usually say. The internet is filled with all kinds of triggered snowflakes like you have people who complain about female leads because that's "pandering to feminists" and other crap because it's unrealistic  ROFLMAO. It's just hilarious sometimes, so I grab my popcorn and just read these comments.


The thing is ME:A wasn't the worst game ever created but it was a letdown for an ME game. Plus, Bioware has been accused of being SJW and other crap, which does have an influence on some people
I also agree with some people that the game got a lot of flak even before its release, which ofc, tarnished the game's reception even more.
All they need to do is to put some effort into the story, setting and characters. That's all

I'm actually one of the people who think the focus on companions that Mac Walters is all about is a problem.

I see MEA as a game that tries to be all about a dorky funny crew and their love lives without doing any noteworthy world building.

THAT among other things is what makes MEA such a hollow experience.

And the only reason ME2 works is because ME1 did all the world building. So all these squadmate missions could EXPAND the player's understanding of the Milky Way races and their customs.

To me MEA is Sims in space. The focus is entirely on the crew and their unexciting problems. The plot is weak. We know almost nothing about Andromeda. There literally *is* nothing in that cluster but sand and ice. Only one new race to get to know while the kett are laughable hive mind bad guys we did not get to know as advertized.

You can't just write characters in a vacuum. They don't come alive unless the world makes sense. But nothing about the AI makes any sense. That's why to me a least the entire game feels like wooden puppets on an empty canvas doing nothing interesting.

Characters and a shit ton of romance options alone do not make a good game.

Imo Mac Walters got it wrong. First you gotta build a cool world, THEN you can focus on the people in it.


ME2 got elevated by ME1's accomplishments. ME2 has the least RPG elements. Duck and shoot combat that only seemed awesome because it succeeded ME1's awkward one. Replaying ME2 after 3 made me realize what a boring design it actually was.
A serviceable plot with a terrible final boss fight idea. And a suicide mission where everyone easily survives.

Don't get me wrong, ME2 is the game version of a cool summer blockbuster. It's actually thr most fun to replay for me. The characters work. But not on their own. Gotta see it in context.

MEA basically stripped the franchise of its roots and failed to plant new ones.

Worldbuilding should come first. Always.

My two cents.

I'd buy you a cheesecake for this.

Noah Gervais also said something interesting.."there is pervasive feeling throughout playing Andromeda, about wanting to be liked".
( But the game skips too many steps so it comes across as forced and shallow).

Well, it depends on what you mean by companions. Does TW3 have companions that follow you around everywhere you go? No Does TW3 have a home base where you can go and talk to all your companions? No, but in a lot of ways, TW3 does have companions.

Dandelion
Triss
Yennefer
Zoltan
Ciri

These are all characters that Geralt has close relationships with throughout the game and in many instances, they fight with you. You get to know them, do side quest for/with them, spend downtime with, and in the case of Triss/Yennefer, can romance. Again, they aren't companions in the sense that they follow you where ever you go, but do your friends follow you around everywhere you go? And because they do not follow you around, does that make them any less of a companion to you?

Those are major characters in the story, rather than companions. Still I can't really argue that they don't fulfill some similar functions to the BioWare companions. The idea is that they aren't the focus.

Please read the whole post before responding. I made it clear that MEA's main problem was that it tried to encompass too much rather than focus on the key components.

Still, ignoring the impact of negative reinforcement is naive. A lot of MEA's "problems" would not have been as noticeable if it weren't for the memelords of the internet.