MASS EFFECT™: ANDROMEDA – Gameplay Series #1: Combat

If you're into games enough to find a feature iconic, or to expect it, wouldn't you at least drop by a forum or Twitter now and then? At least before release, I'd expect such a person to do some due diligence type research. MEA is an entirely new build, after all.

This is absolutely my concern.

I saw people commenting that in the gameplay video Cora and Liam were just wandering around in the middle of the battlefield, running up to enemies in a kind of "HUG ME!" way that spells sure-fire death. So at the very least, that hasn't changed from the previous games, which doesn't bode well for the AI intelligently understanding how and when to use the appropriate skills.

I don't think so, no. For example, I'm a member of another non-gaming forum, which does have a gaming section. I started an MEA thread on there way back when. Of all the people who post on there, I'm the only one who comes to BSN or who does anything more than reading the occasional high-profile article in the standard gaming press. 

It's an easy trap to fall into, to assume that our level of internet engagement is the same or at least somewhat representative as other people's. You see it in all online communities. For example, the politically active on twitter fall into the trap of thinking all voters must surely be on twitter or engaging in the same or similar way as them. This leads to anger from those on twitter when things don't go their way - "but the information was out there, why didn't you pay attention?" The majority of voters have never used twitter. Likewise, the majority of gamers never go near any kind of forum related to the games they play. I have a friend who I went to university with, and we would talk for hours about Mass Effect and Dragon Age. She's not on BSN, never has been. She's not on gaf, never has been. I've just told her about the squad command thing - she didn't know, how could she? 

The primary avenue for information about the game is BioWare's marketing - be that gameplay videos, trailers, or interviews. What people get out of them on twitter or what insiders talk about on gaf is just extra. 

I didn't notice because I've only just started coming back to BSN to find out about stuff. gaf, similarly, will be seeing an uptick in the amount of people taking an interest. Not to mention, some things aren't caught on the radar as people don't register their importance or consequences until other things are in place. 

It's really just not as simple as saying "I knew about this, why didn't anyone else?"

They are both close range fighters (Liam favors melee and Core is basically a Vanguard: shotgun + Charge). If they were not running in the middle of the battlefield near enemies their would be serious problem with their AI...

I'd imagine they would as Garrus certainly did but yeah Cora Liam and Drack are all likely close range combatants. I would imagine your distance options will likely be Vetra and Jaal if you want a distance shooter with Peebee likely mid range.

Ok done reading, man this was one long thread.

On the current discussion point re squad mate powers - One of the first settings I changed in the previous games was to set squad mate power usage from active to whatever the setting was that said they won't use them unless you tell them to. No way I was trusting the AI to make a proper threat assessments/tactical analysis in ME2/ME3, and I seriously doubt I'll be able to trust them to do it properly in MEA either.

Judgement reserved until the squadmate video of course, maybe the answers are coming, but right now I'm pretty worried about this aspect of the game.

True, and amoebae made an excellent post along similar lines.

Have you checked our SEO lately, though? We are the #3 result on Google for "BioWare Forums", and #1 result for "Mass Effect Forum". We are incredibly easy to find, if a person is inclined to find info. I agree that most people simply are not inclined to undertake this type of effort. We're the outliers.

We can give orders, but it seems likely that it will be less specific than in the past. We'll be saying, "Use a power," instead of, "Use power X".

None of this is officially confirmed, yet. Companion combat roles and gameplay info is coming soon.

yeah the Biotic charge power looks pretty amazing looking forward to putting it to use myself at some point probably not on my first run as I'm going for an Adept/infiltrator type hybrid. But I was thinking I may have a try at Vanguard later on in a later playthrough. Depends on how well I get on with the game though.

I doubt it. Flare was like dropping a biotic bomb on your target. I get the sense that Lance will be more of a rapid, precision strike, like a biotic javelin or bolt. We haven't had at glimpse at the screen for the Lance power, as far as I know. (I crawled through the video, second by second.)