Bioware - awesome work on ME:A. Thank you

I actually liked the game too. "Liked" being the codeword. It was fun and enjoyable, for the most part. But I would never thank Bioware for a game like this.

Why?

First of all, it was released in a ridiculously unfinished state. I can understand patching bugs and glitches, but to patch like eye shaders is unacceptable. Those things should have been there from the beginning. They had more than enough time, since EA even offered to push back the release.

Second, I found the story incredibly simplistic, uninspired and overall a major downgrade from most Bioware games/previous ME titles. If this was made by any other company, I would have probably let it slide, but I expected better from Bioware, the studio that praises themselves for their engaging cinematic storytelling.

Dialogue felt a bit awkward and forced at times as well. (Ryder's occasional autodialogue, Director Tann, Addison etc.)
Despite all this, I still enjoyed the game. The combat was a blast to play and the loyalty missions were fun. Some segments of the main story were well done, like the ending mission, minus the boss fight.

Overall, it was an okay game. Just that. Not terrible. Not bad. Not good. Not great. And I don't see why I should thank Bioware for giving us an okay game, when they promised us so much more.

If the fans only keep singing their praises, settle for what they've gotten and don't point out the flaws, chances are, Bioware's not going to learn and will keep pumping out mediocre games like this.
Personally, I don't want to settle for mediocre, and I don't believe that anyone should, which is why I'm not going to thank them, regardless of whether I enjoyed it.

Saying that it was "absolutely amazing" raises suspicions, not the fact that people like it.

I think threads like this are trying to balance out all of the negative vibes going around. It can be disheartening to launch a game that people like but to be bombarded with negative criticism from fans. This reaction happens with BioWare games alot

DA:O wasn't enough like BG so people raged, DA2 wasn't like DA:O, DA:I wasn't like DA2 or DA:O so people raged. ME1 wasn't like KOTOR so rage, ME2 wasn't like ME1 so rage - I could go on.  

If we want to keep devs working on series we like a balance needs to be struck between shitting on it because its not like 'x' and praising it to high heaven. 

What makes you think people are not pointing out flaws. Just because they like the game doesn't mean they're not critical of it.

I think 'awesome' and 'this is one of your best RPG's ever' might be overstating a bit. It's fine to like the game; there is a lot to like about it. It is quite pretty to look at; you can get lost fooling around with the crafting and driving around in the nomad. My issue is with the characters; to this day when I'm playing a Dragon Age title or any fantasy RPG, I still shout Minsc quotes as I'm attacking enemies. There were times in ME2 and ME3 I was moved to tears.
The only emotion I feel in this game is annoyance; it's tedious. I feel like Ryder works for the Department of Motor Vehicles; all of my colleagues are a-holes and annoy me. I'm not going to remember any of these characters except maybe Drack..and even then only because I miss Wrex and Grunt. And Ryder...gah..effing Ryder and his ho-hum let's go wander around and look out the window...he doesn't care about anything. I wanted to BE Shephard. I just want to slap Ryder and tell him to shape up.
My game is ongoing; I play slow; last night I hit 110 hours; haven't even found the renegades yet. But as of this writing, I'm not planning on an immediate second play through as I have with the previous ME games and most of the DA games..except DAII. I didn't do a second play through on that game until just before DAI was released. It's possible ME:A will grab me in the second..third? act and I'll love it. But right now..no...this game has some good ingredients but they're not coming together into a cake because there are some sour bits in the mix as well.

And what about people saying it's a horrible game?

Must be a sarcasm...

Released way too soon.