28 replies to this topic

[Stainless]

I agree with fireside that, if you look at it mathematically, you have a divergent tree. Decisions you made in ME1 affect ME2, which in turn affects ME3.

However the way that Bioware have dealt with that is to make most of the decisions to do with characters. So if you made a friend of the strange assassin in ME2, he is sat in the hospital in ME3 and helps you out in one of the main storyline's chapters.

There are very few sweeping decisions that affect the whole universe to worry about.

Which makes the divergent stories manageable.

I don't know how they could possibly fix the end of ME3 though. They can tidy it up, sort out things like your bestest buddies running away and leaving you to die alone, but the end of game part of the story I think will stay.

After all, ME4 would have to be one hell of a game to sell after all this negative publicity.

[alphadog]

Stainless, on 21 April 2012 - 08:56 AM, said:

I agree with fireside that, if you look at it mathematically, you have a divergent tree.

Yes, but it is not an unmanagable tree. Prune a little, merge branches, etc, and you could do better than what they did...

[Stainless]

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Which makes the divergent stories manageable.

We agree.

[haestrom]

So, according to MS Word - that was a 9 page review of ME3
Nobody EVER would make it so far with a game review...LOL

I played ME1 and ME2.
When the first news came up on the web about ME3, I was holding the bucks tighter than ever before.
I still have the cash for the game, but will be spending it on something else.

[Stainless]

http://www.develop-o...-in-development

Going to have to be some big story line fixes

[fireside]

Another never ending game franchise. They make the movie sequels look like early quitters.

[TheNut]

Common fireside, where's that spirit! Trilogies of trilogies is human innovation at its best. 50 years from now, we'll be on Windows 58, Chrome 92 or Firefox 86, watching Star Wars sequel sequel sequel trilogy and of course be playing Quake 16

But, when the executive producer is appealing to gamers for feedback, that to me means things are not off to a good start.

[Stainless]

I am a firm believer in "leave them wanting more".

Some television programs go on far too long, you see an increasing desperation in the writers as ratings drop.

So they do more and more extreme stories, like dropping a plane on the main location and killing off characters, or throwing in a ridiculous secret society working against the main characters, losing the key factors that made the program a success in the first place.

Same can be said for computer games.

When it comes to operating systems, we have a different effect. To make an operating system viable, you have to have lots of applications. To have lots of applications you have to have lots of developers. To have lots of developers you need lots of end users.

So starting a brand new operating system from scratch is very difficult. If Chris and I rebuilt and released Taos for modern machines, no one would buy it, even though it is a million times better than anything Microsoft has ever written.

I think the ME3 developers should just admit they screwed up, kill off the franchise, and start a new one using the experience they have gained to make it bigger and better.

Dead horse flogging is neither pleasant, nor productive.

[fireside]

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But, when the executive producer is appealing to gamers for feedback, that to me means things are not off to a good start.

There's a man with vision. I always thought you got feedback after you produced something, before you put it on the market.