Mass Effect Andromeda Multiplayer - General Discussion

heh, i am opting out for curiosity over concerns. Concerns is a euphemism for too many negative emotions for my liking. I sincerely want it to be awesome.

Understandable
Also, if I sounded aggressive in my post, I apologize.

But they implemeted system you are talking about
"-Bioware also plans to release custom crafted missions with unique modifiers that players can't change themselves
-These custom missions give you a 3rd currency, "mission funds" which allow you directly purchase items and weapons vs the mercy of random card packs; however these items are only available for a limited time in the store and can change often"

It's still the same 4 player horde mode using character card classes from what they've said in interviews... even the premise is the same really when you think about it... defend colonies (maps) and their colonists from (presumably different factions of) enemy npcs. Of course the main game is the top priority but I'm worried that if all there is is horde mode again and they've not made any significant bold leaps forward with it other than new jet pack ability and destructable cover that it will not have the same longevity that ME3MP did as the novelty factor will be gone especially if the sample of maps is as small as ME3's was. If there are fewer races and fewer enemy factions it could feature less variety overall. They hinted that they improved the store using Destiny as inspiration which is never a good idea.

Do away with the old store. Have Ultra rare's be attainable through time and credits and not just random luck alone. Let's say you want to upgrade a gun. You should have to save enough credit to buy that 1,500,000 Harrier Upgrade+. Also maybe not limit earnings to credits. How about Eezo or platinum like in ME2? Just a thought.

Filters for game search. Let's say select not just enemies and difficulty but whether it's a game in progress or just a lobby.

Also better equipment system. I'm sick of losing equipment when a host DCs or the game freezes.

Introduce an exchange/selling system where players can buy and sell stuff to one another. Having 257 Cryo Rounds IV is just ridiculous when you're looking to get more shotgun amps.

Speaking of shotguns, they are PERFECTLY balanced overall (though the Scimitar could use a little love). Lets get the Assault Rifles on board. They are TERRIBLE overall.

More species and class specific bonuses and abilities. Not just limited to powers but stats and animations as well. Soldiers should be finely balanced between all offensive/defensive categories but specialized in weapons. Engineers should be debuff specialists. Adepts powerhouse casters. Sentinels as tanks. Infiltrators as glass cannons (relatively speaking). Vanguards as perfectly balanced weapons and casting but not quite as high as Adepts or Soldiers.

More dynamic stages. Not just in aesthetics but also more elevation. I'd like to see something like those other mountains and building in Condor for instance with more levels and varying spaces. How about something like Glacier but with 4 floors? Maybe a balcony or catwalk above? Just more stuff outside the box. Bring back ME1 style hazards too such as freeze and poison.

And the most important to me, customization. Unique race-specific armours and tatoos, the ability to change the colors on guns and voices and better skin tone options. Custom kits based on class but without gamebreaking things like Shield Boost/Repair Matrix/Stim Packs. I'd like to have Reave and Throw, or Tactical Scan + Recon Mine.

THE MASS EFFECT FIELD JUST GOT 10 AU WIDER!

They need to find a way to make platinum fun. Yes, it is with friends...but if you are like me and only pug...well, platinum becomes boring and predictable. It always winds up as a camp-fest or with people running around who don't really have any idea of how the game actually works. This is the one exception I will make for Destiny....the past week, I have been doing all of the highest possible difficulty raids & strikes..always with random people/pugs and they were always fun & exciting even when we reached the final boss.

I just read the multiplayer blurb in the Game Informer article and I have to say that I am worried about the "Prestige XP". That system sounds way too familiar to the level up mechanic in DAMP, and of the many things that that multiplayer got wrong, this was one of the bigger ones (IMO).

Adding a flat health buff to all characters once a prestige level has been reached will either add another layer of unnecessary grind to the game; where the harder difficulties have to be so inflated in difficulty to compensate for the larger health pools that they will become unplayable to players starting out; or it will ultimately result in the end game dying off; as the high end players become literally unkillable and all challenge to the game is lost.

I liked ME 3's MP because you could jump into a Platinum match with a starter character and weapons and still do reasonably well, even succeed depending on your skill level. In DAMP, if you attempted the harder difficulties with a starter character and basic weapons you would be one shot-ed by even the lowest enemy mobs, regardless of how good you were, and you had to invest dozens of hours grinding and leveling up your characters' stats in order to even stand a chance at those difficulties.

I really don't want to see a repeat of that for ME:A's MP.

wait i put my snarky response in the wrong thread!

In this thread it's useful info!

Class unlock not tied to RNG loot crates.

if i wanna play quarian infiltrator, so be it!

Well if the Prestige XP system is anything like DAMP's design you would be looking at diminishing returns for bronze matches too. (IMO)

This over emphasis on grinding until you meet the prerequisite stats only serves to force players into an ever increasing difficulty spike in order to present a challenge. In DAMP, once you attained a reasonable allocation of 'prestige points' bronze mode became no fail mode. You could literally walk into a group of enemies and let them wail on you for a solid two minutes and you still would have over half health. Now, while that might be fun for a little while, eventually it becomes redundant and you have to move on to harder difficulties to order to have a test of your skill. Of course, this necessitated an exponential increase in difficulty which effectively segregated the player base into "Time Played" groups rather than "Skill Groups". Want to play a gold match with some friends but you've only put about 4-5 hours into the multiplayer? Forget it, you'll be watching the match via death cam. The same goes for the reverse. Do you have a higher level buddy that you want to play some bronze matches with? Well unless you want to sit there and watch him solo the entire map using only basic attacks its going to be a little boring for you.

In ME 3's MP everyone was on an even footing as far as characters went. Sure, there could be someone running around with a Beam Rifle X while you had an Avenger I, but both players still stood the same chance at completing waves and surviving the horde regardless of their loadout. You could have a nice casual match on Bronze and then jump over to a pre-matched Platinum game and still be capable of contributing to the team. With DAMP's system, once you advanced in prestige enough you were basically required to play harder difficulties in order to find a challenge, and you couldn't go back to play with lower level players on an even footing because all the prestige leveling was a permanent addition to your characters.