Mass Effect News Thread

Mass Effect‏ @masseffect
Remnant forces are dismantling Firebase Aqua using unknown technology. Jump into the fray with APEX this weekend to destroy the threat.

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Kind of everything when you think about it. I wouldn't be surprised if they attempt this with DA4 and any future ME games, if there are ever any. Dissolve one part of the team and the rest follows after, unfortunately.

APEX HQ‏ @mea_APEXHQ
We've updated APEX HQ with some more improvements - download the latest release now, available for iOS and Android!


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BioWare @bioware
Thanks to @vueweekly for naming us Edmonton's Best Local Game Developer
www.vueweekly.com/best-of-edmonton-2017-results/ …




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oh cool, Tricia Helfer (EDI) is currently doin a reddit AMA.

someone's Q: ''My question is: Given your involvement with a lot of different mediums of Science Fiction, what was it like going from a character like Six to a different kind of AI character like EDI of Mass Effect 2 and 3?''

Tricia: ''Voicing EDI was way different than portraying Six. With Mass Effect, there was no script so I had no idea what was going on. I would show up at the studio, head into the booth, put on the headphones and a line would appear on the computer screen and the record button would come on. I'd read it a few times and then another line would appear. Literally the first time I would see a line, and read it, it was being recorded. I really still have no idea what the story is.''

edit: aaah she answered my question too 

I would expect that the guys in the studio would give the VA a little context to make a better delivery of his/her lines.

Someone should ask if we'll get any kind of resolution to the Mysterious Benefactor via other media. I doubt they'd get an answer beyond the usual company line, but its worth an ask.

Sam | Edmonton Expo‏ @sammaggs
If you're at @edmontonexpo hit up the @bioware base and deface our beautiful colouring wall!

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He's not calibrating?!

I got mine for free, as an award/gift at work. I was supposed to receive a very nice poker set, but my boss was eying it. He knew I didn't play, and we cut a deal. Second best award ever, behind stock in the business (which can buy many VGs).

Rachel‏ @petitemortician
Happy #BiVisibilityDay
In a world rife w/ biErasure (especially male biErasure) I'm proud to build worlds that star characters like Reyes

i.imgur.com/FJWhUMM.gif

(And proud to work at a company that endeavors to take greater and greater strides in representation.)
(And proud to work with badass people like @courtneywoods and others who actively want to tell more diverse stories)



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It's not directly Mass Effect, but saw Fernando commenting on it, and it's wonderful.

Charles Randall‏ @charlesrandall

• The other day a friend commented to me "I wish game developers were more candid about development." He was surprised when I said we are.
• The caveat is that we're only candid with other industry people. Because gamer culture is so toxic that being candid in public is dangerous.
• See that recent twitter thread about game design tricks to make games better -- filled with gamers "angry" about "being lied to."
• Forums and comment sections are full of dunning-kruger specialists who are just waiting for any reason to descend on actual developers.
• See any thread where some dumbass comments how "easy" it would be to, say, add multiplayer or change engines.
• Any dev who talks candidly about the difficulty of something like that just triggers a wave of people questioning their entire resumé.
• "Questioning" here being an absurd euphemism for "becoming a target of an entire faction of gamers for harassment or worse."
• There are still topics I can't touch because I was candid once and it resulted in dumb headlines, misunderstandings, and harassment.
• So while I'd talk candidly about certain big topics right now -- I know doing so would lead to another wave of assholes throwing shit at me.
• (And of course I face almost nothing compared to women/PoC/lgtbq+ folk)
• But here's the rub: all the stuff you ever wanted to know about game development would be out there if not for the toxic gaming community.
• We *love* to talk about development, the challenges we face, the problems we solve, the shortcuts we take. But it's almost never worth it.
• I did a public talk a couple weeks ago to a room full of all ages kids, and afterwards, a kid came up to me and was talking about stuff.
• And I shit you not, this kid (somewhere between 13-16 I'd guess) starts talking about how bad devs are because of a youtuber he watches.
• He nailed all the points, "bad engines", "being greedy", you name it. I was appalled.
• I did my best to tell him that all those things people freak out about are normal and have justifications. I hope I got through a bit.
• But I expect he went back to consuming toxic culture via youtube personalities, and one day he'll probably harass a dev over nonsense.
• I worry about what other topical hatred he's picking up on at the same time. I guess this leads into a bigger point.
• When you attack developers for "being political", that's a facet of the bullshit that forces us to keep things hidden from public view.
• The elements that contribute to harassing developers over perceived technical slights are the same elements as all the other hate out there.
• Next time you don't like a game, maybe consider just... moving on? What is the value of helping spread hate and toxicity?
• If more people accepted that it's okay to dislike a game and move on, rather than doubling down on harassment, things would be more open.
• If you are posting extremely negative things about a game you don't like, even with good intentions, you are contributing to this ethos.
• Being critical and explaining why you don't like something is fine. Dwelling on it, calling out the dev, or just talking shit is not.
• Let's be honest: dwelling on something you don't like also isn't healthy. Spend your time on what matters instead.
• Also: there's this idea that developers are secretive of what they are doing with respect to sharing with other devs: this is false.
• There's no real competition between developers. We love to talk and share, and so at best, a lot of stuff is "FrieNDA'd."
• Most developers know what their other developer friends are working on, even between AAA studios. Open secret.
• You know why we have to keep what we're doing secret from the public? Because of the toxic culture surrounding it.
• (Some people will say marketing and they are not wrong but that's the difference between secrecy and WIDE knowledge.)
• God help you if you let any amount of the public know what you are working on before it's set in stone.
• Games change during development, this is a universal constant no developer would argue with, but toxic culture can't handle that.
• If you think I'm wrong on any points in this thread, please compare the movie industry to the games industry.
• Sometimes we know about movies that are "in development" years and years before anyone even starts working on them. That wouldn't fly here.
• Shout out to all my friends who do community management for games. They deal with a lot of bullshit they should never have had to
• This thread brought to you by @jeremiads for asking the question, and this tweet:
  JP @vectorpoem - this person read once that assembly = programming for super brain people and is posting useful game dev insight and should def not be banned.