ME:A vs No Mans Sky on Exploration, Resources and Crafting

Well, I've heard that NMS inventory system's makes ME1's look like a godsend. So, I'm just hoping that they don't repeat that. Also, I've heard that it's a grinding game, in that in order to get anything, you have to grind out finding all the mats to upgrade your gear. In ME1, though, I s'pose you could grind out all the mats, but it didn't really feel like all that much of a grind to me.

ME:A I hope it'll be the same way, I hope. No, grinding. No inventory system nightmare. I do suspect that there will be blueprints and/or resources, but those will be overshadowed by the quests that we're on. That's really the downfall of NMS, it has nothing else for you to do other than this vague quest of finding the center of the universe and nothing else.

Swimming would be cool but I get a feeling it won't be included. Some environment being hazardous like in ME1 I ccould get under. Otherwise I don't want any more crafting or resource gathering. I've never liked it and have only liked it when it was part of a good quest. (Dragon armor in DA:O)

I get that it's been the new cool thing in recent videogames but I'm just sick of it. I'm not saying I'm completely against it, but I'd rather have something like in ME2 or ME3 than NMS or DAI.

HELLO DEVELOPERS READING THIS,

SINCE WHEN DID I EVER SAY I WANT CRAFTING IN A BIOWARE GAME?

EVER?

Bioware games are not Skyrim. I'm not sure where the hell they get the idea that just because Skyrim had it and was popular, crafting crap MUST BE a part of Bioware RPGs.

I love crafting in Skyrim. Doesn't mean that it's a relevant feature to the Bioware RPG gaming experience. In fact it conceptually DOESNT RLY MAKE SENSE in a Bioware RPG which isn't about survival and living off the land but about character, narrative, and plot. Yes, survival and living off the land will be an essential part of Andromeda, but the method of experience ...just...no. it's never been about experiencing a story element literally like that. We're not sticking Chantry incense-lighting simulations in Dragon Age because that activity exists in the game world. We're not sticking farm soil-tilling SIMULATION in the game because that activity is a big part of the medievalesque world of Thedas.

Direct simulation, in which you perform an element inimical to the game setting, is extremely unique to Skyrim. That's the Skyrim method of drawing you into Nirn. That's how THEY do it.

Bioware doesn't have to do that. They have THEATRICAL STORYTELLING.

Learn the bloody difference and stop muddling the two.

When it comes to exploration, the main thing they need to have is something to actually find and occasionally offer something more exciting than a few more resources. That's where I felt Inquisition failed in this aspect: exploring really only rewarded me with even more damn elfroot.

A nice view can also be good to find but if the entire planet essentially looks the same then it doesn't really matter, even if it's all very well crafted. The cool off the beaten path views have to actually be unique things. To use Skyrim as an example the first time I got to Blackreach was incredible, because I hadn't seen anything like it yet in the game.

As for crafting, I don't think that Mass Effect really needs to have a crafting system.

This seems like another ridiculous pseudo-comparison. NMS is a sandbox survival/exploration game while ME:A is an action RPG. Might as well try comparing Battlefront to ME:A since they both have third-person shooting elements.

No Mans Sky is a boring grinding teeth lonely game.

I think that's one of the things that she's against though.  She wants crafting in some games, in others she just wants to be able to pick up her gun and go blow some faces off.  Mass Effect is one of those games.  

I kind'a agree with her, kind'a don't.  If you'd have asked me a year ago, I'd be all against any kind'a crafting in ME games.  Now, I'm kind'a coming around to it, because BioWare is giving off that vibe that it is going to be in the next game.

And I can understand if some people would prefer not having to gather mats/build gear in BioWare games, but in DAI at least, crafting is optional.

Remember, you can play the game with just looted/purchased gear, and I suspect that will still hold true in MEA if they go that route.

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Let's be clear. The inventory is very, very restricted in both your exosuit and the ship's storage area. However, each slot can contain
many units of an individual resource.  Nevertheless,  the game is designed around said restrictions.   grinding isn't difficult either...
just  point and shoot your mining laser at a resource and it's automatically extracted and placed in your inventory.

The game's nature is exploration.  Trading, exploring, resource acquisitions is what you do and fight off other spaceships and such...
very Elite - like in this regard.

I am enjoying No Man's Sky but I want ME:A to be completely different to it. I don't need more of the same. I can already get more of the same just by playing NMS.

In a space opera. 


As a low level RPG character, discovering new areas and enemy types as you level up can be a lot of fun. 

The trick is not to have a game full of repetitive enemies that spawn at point X every 1:30s.

I prefer accidentally disturbing a giant monster 12 levels above my character than the same level 6 mercenary. 

So a little optional grinding doesnt hurt. But the existing system from ME3 works well enough already as is.  

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I really doubt an actual crafting system is present in ME:A. It would slow down game pacing, imo. However, NMS' crafting system is not
anywhere near shape or form as in DA:I. 

Example 1: Repair
Selecting the Hand-Tool menu shows you the tool's function (1) Mining Laser, (2) Scanner via two pics. One clearly shows the Scanner
is broken. Clicking on it, a tool tip pops up telling you what it does and what's needed to repair it, such as 25 iron and 10 zinc. Once the elements
are in your inventory select the scanner function from the menu, then select the iron, then the zinc from your inventory and it's repaired.

Example 2: New Tech
You find a blueprint for a new tech while exploring. The new tech icon, when clicked in your inventory , shows you what it does and what's
needed to manufacture it. Get the resources then select the tech icon and click on the resources... done.

Repairs and manufacture is all very sci-fi-ish in NMS. Mass Effect Andromeda should have a similar, simple mechanism for repairs, upgrades
and / or new item fabrication.  An actual, honest to goodness Crafting System as in DA:I makes no sense within the ME universe.  Of course, we
don't know what Bio has designed for gear leveling, customization,  repair functions or new fabrication methods.

At the end of the day, I prefer a Star Trek method of ordering your ship's computer to fabricate  what you want... be it food, drink or equipment.