Active abilities in ME:A (Updated)

I know very little but I know this has been one of the most fascinating debates I have ever read.

26 pages talking about gameplay mechanics no one has experienced yet reminded me of this scratch at the end of a mix tape in my music rotation:

"The mind of a child is a beginner's mind and beginner's mind is about having sort of an attitude of openness and eagerness and a lack of preconceptions, when it comes to studying a subject. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few. So by approaching a subject, the way a beginner or a child would, we start to open up possibilities and we lead ourselves open to a -. Well, who knows what. Right?"

Until I have played MEA, I think I tend more to the beginner's mind than the expert's mind when approaching the new game.

What? Is it my use of the word lazy that offends you so much? So when I feel that beginning of a burn whenever I try reaching those farthest keys, that's just my imagination? What else are you going to tell me how I should feel about? I used to get tendinitis chronically, and ate anti-inflammatory pills like candy. Fortunately that has stopped, but I've grown anxious it comes back and if it means giving up on those keys that are too far for my reach, then so be it. Yes, poor PC port annoys me. I'm in front of a computer all day long at work too, I don't need bad PC port in my free time to ruin my wrists further. Which is why I know three powers are enough, the ones I don't use get rebound to those keys I can't reach and don't try to anymore. Those powers are wasted on me. I would welcome less rebinding, there's no reason for me to be ashamed of my personal preferences. There is no correlation between wanting less keys to rebind and making video games the father of all evil on Earth, because I haven't presented that tidbit as if it was general truth everyone should abide to. I stated, several times, not having to rebind dozens of keys was a personal preference. And it's not as if I had any way to impose them on you, I'm not even trying to do so. So cut the drama act.
I don't have any bone to pick with sjsharp, I merely use them as a neutral example of someone stating a preference for a feature that may or may not be in the game for personal reasons, just like I did, yet I get flamed for it... Funny that.

I wouldn't find better AI and something like the collectors great. They weren't all that bright, but they made up for it with being particularly agressive and fast. But when I see our squadmates running around like headless chickens, that doesn't make me very hopeful for the ennemies factions either. The Nullifiers and mechs looked very static and prime bullet-sponge material, though I suppose there were always going to be some of these. I might be wrong and the gameplay footage was misleading, but that's what it looked in this. So yes, you're right in saying I expect we are doomed to dumb AI and bullet-sponges. I might be wrong, but I haven't seen anything that would make me believe otherwise so far.

I'm open to other ways to balance the game, but the possibilities are limited. You can make the enemies more powerful (better AI, faster, stronger, harder), and/or you can increase the limitations on the protagonist (limited access to powers in number and/or kind, nerfed powers, limited access to weapons in number and/or kind, nerfed weapons, longer cool-downs...). Generally a game is a combination of those two. In most games you'll find the enemies become more powerful on higher levels, but there's a limit to that until they become mere bullet-sponges. In the better games, bosses at least, get new, more dangerous attack patterns. I haven't seen that yet in BW games, so not hopeful there (but then, I haven't played every BW games, maybe you have an exemple at hand). The more or less confirmed facts we have so far regarding the protagonist's balance: 
1) no classes, it seems we'll have full freedom in our choice of powers.
2) individual cool-downs, means you can detonate just after having primed, you don't have to worry about a universal cool-down preventing you from doing just that.
3) you can change your build freely as long as you're not already in combat
What we have gathered, but is still unconfirmed I believe:
a) access to every weapons
limit to three powers

Just with 1), even not knowing the precise list of powers available, you can make your pathfinder god in MEA. That is if there's no limitation in the number of active powers available, so there will be one, that's logical. 2) makes us less reliant on our squadmates for power combos. If the number of active powers is high enough, we can completely forget about them and simply cycle through our own powers. This is a good thing if their AI is so bad they are useless anyway, on the other hand, why have squadmates at all in that case? I will add, as a personal preference, that if I am to be saddled with squadmates, I'd like them to be actually useful outside of the bedroom. 3) You can adapt your build to the circumstances you will face, rather self-explanatory. a) In a classless system, there's no reason to introduce a limit on the kind of weapons available. They had gotten rid of it anyway in previous games, so why re-introduce it? I very much doubt guns will be less powerful in MEA than in ME3. Many would cry in outrage if the Claymore, to take one of the more iconic weapons as an exemple, suddenly spat rubber balls, but that is only speculation, I admit. The Piranha and what looked like a particle riffle didn't seem weak, but I have no way of confirming that, not knowing the level they were played at. what we are squabbling about. A limit on the number of active powers is necessary. I don't think anyone would dispute that, unless that someone really wants their pathfinder to be god.

So, if we can make any build, mix all kinds of powers and change them at any time to better face our opposition, if these powers are on individual cool-downs, which means something like weapon weight will have little to no impact on cool-downs, and if weapons are still as powerful as ever, what is left to apply a limitation on the protagonist? The number and effectiveness of these powers. With seven, you can basically cast non-stop, with an optimized build, practically nuke a room: Barrier -> Snap freeze -> Arc grenades -> singularity -> shockwave -> if there's something left, reave -> biotic charge. I all these powers are there and anything like they used to be in ME3, that enemy AI would need to be on par with Skynet. This is just sheer, raw power. You can be as clever as Einstein, if Mike Tyson hits you right in the face when you're compelled to attack him, you'll go down. They would need to seriously nerf all these powers, or have the enemies be bullet-sponges. With less powers, we might avoid either of these outcomes. ME3MP proved a limit to three powers could still be lots of fun. This is my reasoning, I'm not forcing you to agree and I do understand your arguments. Do try to understand mine, it's not as worthless as you make it out to be.

Yes, indeed, I knew you were one of those lizard men all along. Nothing you tell me will make me think otherwise now that you've admitted to it, but I can spot reverse psychology on reverse psychology miles away. Not that I'd ever use miles, the metric system makes much more sense.

Space beetle please, not lizard man: reptile folks are so humourless and stiff most of the time. They wouldn’t’ crack a joke even if their tails would depend on it. And I utterly agree on the metric system: the faster we unify this planet under the banner of the decimal logic, the better.
And what apparently I failed to convey quoting myself (and I really dislike doing it: it’s redundant) was that using “lazy” as a reason undermines the opinions you’re providing. Just that.
As I said I relate to wrist damage: have you ever tried switching to minikeyboard to ease the problem? I think they sell wireless version for 20/30 (more or less) euros; not exactly for free, but they could become a safety net, in case…


But let’s go back to Andromeda:
I really can’t seem to follow your logic. IF bullet sponge are our dooms, why less powers? For the sake of the challenge or for the sake of sustained DPS builds? And even if bullet sponges are the only kind of enemies we will encounter, shouldn’t we invoke better AI, more than less powers? I recognize the former is easier to implement, but still…
And even then, why more “potential” slots for powers should damage people who prefer the shotty approach, when they don’t even use them? These slots would remain a possibility, untapped by soldiers build, but used by caster build. I don’t see who is damaged here or left wanting or unhappy. I mean, in ME3 the soldier is all about sustained DPS and its abilities (adrenaline rush aside) are more buffing/debuffing oriented. And with Adrenaline Rush as panic button, you rarely have spike damage: casters are almost the opposite as they usually tend to glass cannon…
My point is: even with the class system of ME trilogy you had the freedom to try different builds with the same “starter pack” in single player. You can play a heavy weapon soldier with the big guns (not really my cup of tea), or go for a lighter build, spamming concussive shots and mixing and matching with a bonus power. In short, strengthen your strong points or going for an all-around build.
But all of this, from the standpoint of gameplay mechanic, is dependent on the possibility of being able to make that choice. To do the same in ME:A, 3 slots are hardly enough, if they are all that we have to play with.
I’m not against soldier builds in ME:A. I would just like a “power slots unlock tree” where to spend my points as a passive, or a way to earn in game more power slots. Just a couple would be enough, so to have the possibility and the freedom to experiment around.
And also because a 3 powers system (if confirmed) while using the same powers of ME3 isn’t simply enough for me: yes, I like to play with combos, (biotic and tech) and synergize with my companions if I can.
Shotty builds at the same time could take advantage of better passive… or regen mechanics, if you prefer to play tanky. Or anything similar: the possibilities are many.
Again, I don’t see who is damaged here or left wanting or unhappy.

Playing ME:A, I think I will tend to one “focus”, archetype or whatever you prefer to call it: if I play soldier, I will play a soldier kind of build for all the adventure. Not become a biotic for a mission and then switch to engineer: as you said yourself you don’t need to do it. I think also many wouldn’t do it: among other reasons, because the jack of all trades master of none is very often worse than the focused build.
Wanting to challenge yourself is one thing: trying to impose the kind of challenge you prefer most as the standard quite another. I can understand soldier is one of the simplest class to master, but caster classes aren’t less rewarding or enjoyable in my experience. In the ME3 trilogy (single player) the only class I haven’t finished a campaign with was the engineer…
Still, as all casters, this kind of builds depend on the access to powers, and as I've said, I don't think only 3 are enough.

Which is probably a good thing.  I generally find I prefer fast paced combat to slower paced combat.  As a general rule, though I do like my cover and hate when I am flushed out of it. 

Yes, that was my impression too. A bit of a sitting duck with some biotic wall/barrier though. I hope we'll have many mobile ennemies, very agressive like the Collectors used to be, and I hope they themselves have offensive bio/tech powers to counter us. There should be some of them, if we go with what we had in MET. I wish we had footages of such units and their abilities. That might ease my mind some about the balance in this game. So far I feel like I've only seen canon-fodders.

So you are "average' because you can't solo Platinum level maps on Insanity? 

You must have a really frakked up concept of "average"

I am deeply suspicious because this style of combat is suspiciously similar to the "streamlining" done to the Dragon Age games.  Which has not contributed to, and has in fact detracted from it's "fun" factor.

it's an assumption. Though a pretty safe one but the devs have repeatedly promised there is more to come.

As far as similarities to DA is concerned, General comment, i did find the power limit stupid, but on the other hand Da i had by far the best combat of the series for me.

Yeah, same here...
ME was the first game I took the time to unlock all the objective... fun times, even if ME1 combat was a little on the goofy side. Story was amazing though: do anyone else still remember the first time we talked with Sovereign?




That reveal was masterfully crafted and a twist you didn’t see it coming up until then.

As for the combat system of Andromeda, there are at least a couple of possibilities, and while we wait for an official confirmation we can only speculate:
A. A power system with 3 as upper limit. I wouldn’t like this personally: even with the ability to change powers on the fly outside combat, such limitation seems a bit harsh. And it seems like a waste of a lot of potential in a “class less” game.
B. A “core” power + 3 abilities at your choosing. From some screens, it seems plausible the signature powers of every class isn’t included in the 3 slots. So, charge/singularity/ drone and so on could be untied from the 3 slots, or maybe work with the logics of a passive power (no idea how charge for instance could exist in such condition, but we will see). Filling 3 slots with powers of our choosing plus a signature power would be better, without a doubt. Still, it continues to seem an imposition.
But I would manage with this situation, if I’m really able to choose the other powers among the possibilities.
C. Passives tree that unlock more slots powers, or objective/ missions / discoveries in game that do the same. Frankly speaking, to me at least seems a little silly to have the ability to change powers on the fly but being forced to bring only 3 with me at the same time. So, in game we could research better hardware (remnant implants) to equip our PC, and so unlock more powers slots: this I suppose would promote exploration and completionistm (is it even a word?)
D. A combination of some of the above.

Yeah MEA to me looks like it's going to be a mix of ME1 and 2. As it'll have the ME1 exploring plus the powers and such and loyalty quests similar to ME2 as well.

Nah, I still die plenty of time on gold too, and I can only solo on that level with a Krogan vanguard or a Gethfiltrator, against Reapers, the easiest faction, and the best builds to do that. Insanity SP is comparable to silver, because of the speed, damage and number of enemy units. Once you get used to them going faster, hitting harder and being more numerous in gold, Insanity feels underwhelming. Not to mention I've learned how the powers work and how to build my protagonist much better, thanks to MP, and the enemies don't spawn in my back in SP and rarely flank me. Maybe my concept of average is frakked, as you say, but that's the only spot I can place myself. Not a noob who's just started and doesn't know anything of the game, nor an elite god of headshots who destroy spawns so fast I'm lucky if there's some straggler left to point my weapon at either .

I understand that. It's not as if I'm completely confident either. We still know too little about gameplay. However, I prefer staying open-minded, and try it before I pass any judgement. I found ME3MP to be great, and I believe it's what they based their system on. But there's indeed been DAI in between, which wasn't all that entertaining combat-wise for me, but then, none of the DA games are for me... As it's always been different from the ME series in the way they approach combat, it doesn't worry me overly yet /shrugs

Honestly, if there's something that truly worries me for MEASP, it's that it's going to be an open world. Even the Witcher 3 can't make me like open worlds...