I have just finish mass effect andromeda and honestly speaking i find it good. Not as bad as most people had said. I wanted to get this email to bioware but was unable to. I want to let them know that i will continue to support them however i can as a fan to Mass Effect. Hope bioware sees this and consider giving Mass Effect Andromeda another chance. I believe all of us wanted to find out what happened to the quarian Ark DLC through gameplay experience. And more of the mystry being solved. Dear bioware,I'm just a ordinary guy who love the mass effect series. It has action,drama,story and so much more. When I first finish playing mass effect 3 I was unhappy with the game ending. It felt incomplete as there's a lot of question to be answered: what happen to the race in the milky way?, are there still war among the species?, did Shepard choice really mattered .Not long after you guys released a patch to answer most of the question that had filled everyone's mind. I'm happy that even after the game release you guys still put in effort to make the changes to satisfied us gamer.When i heard the release of a new series of mass effect games: Mass Effect Andromeda i am trilled. It is like reuniting with an old friend, trailer is spectacular the gameplay shown is promising. But after the release of the game it hit a road block.Many gamer out there complains about the issue they had on the game. ie. the facial expression is weird on certain occasion. jumping off the map, certain mission not working hence blocking the progress of the game.But yet again you guys try to fix the issue that were present to allow us gamer to play the game to enjoy it like it was meant to be.I know it has been a though year for Mass Effect Andromeda as many critics claim that it is worse game out there. But to me it is still a game that is worth buying and playing. Honestly speaking i have just finish the game and it felt great.Being on adventure as the pathfinder is great, explore the unexplored meet new alien species and fight new treat. It is amazing ( well maybe because i am a sucker for this type of game).After i finish the game i found out that there are more to it and was hoping a DLC will be release to answer some of the questions, ie what happened to the Quarian ark?, will the Ryder siblings ever cure their mother's illness?, What will happen to the kett?, Will kett still try to exalt everyone in the Heleus cluster? So much question to be answered.I understand that you will be creating more DLC for multiplayers and all the question that i have presented above will be answered in the form of a comic but honestly speaking i rather play through all of it. To feel more connected to the story.The pathfinder had it though in the game. People questioning is ability as a pathfinder, nobody take him seriously but he never gave up he keep pushing on. Good or bad he make it work.Hence i would like to end this email just by saying: "Don't give up one the game." I feel connected to the game and would like to see more of it.PS: Sorry of the bad englishSincerely,Justin Tan

@Delgorath Correction....Bioware does exist, EA just shut down one of the studios of it, which happened to be the one which failed on MEA. Now, if Anthem and next Dragon Age tanks, then I could easily see the studio boarded up and dropped, but so far they are still around. The biggest two issues with MEA in production was they gave a AAA game to the B team, and then mandated a switch to the Frostbite engine mid development....and the B team couldn't handle it and either didn't ask for extra time or wasn't granted it. I know in a interview someone at EA said they could have delayed MEA by up to 6 months and not hurt the financials of the company, so the question is....Was he lying or did the B team at Bioware fail to ask because of some unknown reason?? Sad thing is, patched up the game is decent...not really up to ME standards but still decent and playable...I have almost 600 hours in game according to Origin....but if they had of delayed and released it in current form and then spent 6+ more months improving from there, the game could have been so good and probably would have gotten DLC and further support. Someone in either EA or Bioware really #####ed the pooch on this delay or release decision.......

Get your facts straight, @Delgorath. EA bought BioWare back in 2005. That was even before Mass Effect was released, let alone DAO, or ME2, or ME3, or DAI. Yes, EA now stipulates that the Frostbite engine be used for all AAA games, which allows for easy porting of the code to all three major platforms and is already owned by EA. But after green-lighting a project, EA has little to nothing to do with the actual design or development of a game beyond setting the overall budget and the expected release date. MEA was definitely handed to the B-Team, BioWare Montréal, and they dropped the ball. BioWare Edmonton took over and Casey Hudson was brought back and (I think) was given instructions to "get this thing out the door with minimal additional cost" only after it became clear the project had gone seriously off the rails. That wasn't EA's fault, (unless you mean they should have pulled the plug sooner.)

@mcsupersport wrote: The biggest two issues with MEA in production was they gave a AAA game to the B team, and then mandated a switch to the Frostbite engine mid development They used Frostbite from the start. @ThandalNLyman wrote: BioWare Edmonton took over and Casey Hudson was brought back and (I think) was given instructions to "get this thing out the door with minimal additional cost" only after it became clear the project had gone seriously off the rails. Casey Hudson only returned to BioWare in July, which was after the game's release. He replaced Aaryn Flynn as general manager. I think you're perhaps thinking of Mac Walters. Which brings me to the following: @Delgorath wrote: They made a huge amount of cash on the pre-orders and diverted funding and staff to Anthem and other projects. I don't know why people keep saying this, because it was the other way around. BioWare sent senior staff from Edmonton to Montreal to get the project back on track. @Delgorath wrote: Bioware dont even exist any more. As was pointed out, BioWare still has their studios in Edmonton and Texas. The Montreal studio still exists with a large part of its staff, but as part of Motive who they already shared a building with.

@taglag45 EA is a business, of course they want to make money and as long as they have gullible fools shelling out money on the reskinned games....aka madden, fifa, sims, battlefield then of course they will keep pumping them out. And as long as those same people shell out mega bucks to get some shiny name to play on their virtual team so they can be LEET, and tell all their buddies how fantastic they are because their team has all the great players and only cost 599.99 then they will continue to produce the games and boxes for people to do this. As far as kids stealing from people, well that has been happening for YEARS...aka Air Jordans, leather jackets, and IPHONES just to name a few, and that is a parenting issue not an EA issue. Parents HAVE to teach their kids better and make them understand they DON'T need all that shiny crap especially digial shiny crap that is going to disappear in a year or so and you can do just as well NOT spending your every dime trying to get a player just to have to forget about him next year cause the new game will not use him. The good thing I see in the trends, is people are getting tired of MTX and things like Destiny2 and Battlefront 2 are tanking because people are saying enough is enough, and this will force Devs and publishers to be a bit better about how they handle it and hopefully it means we don't have a whole generation of people who can't say NO to shiny digital junk. My daughter loves Sims4, and yeah we have most of the Xpacks for it, we also have Sims 3 but most of that was bought on sale cheap....my son plays many different games(Starcraft 1, Farcry 3 or 4, and some MEA horde together) with me, for the most part NOT online and the games he does play online(roblox especially) he has learned how to limit what he spends to a very reasonable amount per month...usually 10-20 a month across all games. Me I am a cheap B-------ard......I did the free to play and spend on MTX, got old QUICK, now I buy a game and I MAY spend a TINY amount of money on it in MTX, but I will spend on DLC or extra content, well more than any other MTX. I know I didn't spend any MTX in battlefield 1, DAI, MEA, and refuse to buy Battlefront 2. I do own almost all the DLC in DAI, and would have bought DLC for MEA.

No more DLCs for multiplayer. It gets a few different missions cobbled together and some tweaks to weapons. Supposed to be some novels coming to clear up loose ends but as far as I know thats it. EA havent ruled out doing another Mass Effect but its a long time off. They are currently working on Star Wars and Anthem, as well as other products in their portfolio. Anthem has issues from what I hear and keeps being delayed. They still have problems with the loot box mentality and a lot of players I know wont buy EA again. Heard tales of people returning Need For Speed and game shops with shelves full of Star Wars Battlefront.

Email to Bioware | EA Forums

11 Replies

Delgorath
8 years ago
No more DLCs for multiplayer. It gets a few different missions cobbled together and some tweaks to weapons. Supposed to be some novels coming to clear up loose ends but as far as I know thats it. EA havent ruled out doing another Mass Effect but its a long time off. They are currently working on Star Wars and Anthem, as well as other products in their portfolio. Anthem has issues from what I hear and keeps being delayed. They still have problems with the loot box mentality and a lot of players I know wont buy EA again. Heard tales of people returning Need For Speed and game shops with shelves full of Star Wars Battlefront.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Yeah it just seem like they are giving up on Andromeda when there is still potential in the game. Really hope that bioware would give it another go.
Delgorath
8 years ago
Bioware dont even exist any more. EA took them over and shut the studios down. Shame really because they had a history of producing good games. MEA was doomed before it was released, serious issues in development. EA deliberately over-hyped it, showed some flashy graphics footage, and released a broken game. They made a huge amount of cash on the pre-orders and diverted funding and staff to Anthem and other projects. It only looks like it has potential because it was never finished. Thats what really upset people, 3 years of promises deliberately broken. They wont publish another one for a good few years because people will not buy it. I know people that played Mass Effect from the first one that will not buy another EA game. You only have to look around the gaming forums, its poisonous.
PC multiplayer was quite fun, until the cheats took over, EA's only action was to stop paying for the anti-cheat software and remove it from the game. Then they added a ton of rubbish weapons to milk the loot box market. That cost them a lot of players. Most of the top players on PS4 left for Destiny 2, a friend of mine still plays, but only with a couple of friends and he'll be off as soon as another game he likes pops up.

https://www.masseffect.com/news/mass-effect-andromeda-update-from-the-studio
mcsupersport
Hero+
8 years ago
@Delgorath

Correction....Bioware does exist, EA just shut down one of the studios of it, which happened to be the one which failed on MEA. Now, if Anthem and next Dragon Age tanks, then I could easily see the studio boarded up and dropped, but so far they are still around. The biggest two issues with MEA in production was they gave a AAA game to the B team, and then mandated a switch to the Frostbite engine mid development....and the B team couldn't handle it and either didn't ask for extra time or wasn't granted it. I know in a interview someone at EA said they could have delayed MEA by up to 6 months and not hurt the financials of the company, so the question is....Was he lying or did the B team at Bioware fail to ask because of some unknown reason??

Sad thing is, patched up the game is decent...not really up to ME standards but still decent and playable...I have almost 600 hours in game according to Origin....but if they had of delayed and released it in current form and then spent 6+ more months improving from there, the game could have been so good and probably would have gotten DLC and further support. Someone in either EA or Bioware really #####ed the pooch on this delay or release decision.......
ThandalNLyman
8 years ago
Get your facts straight, @Delgorath.

EA bought BioWare back in 2005. That was even before Mass Effect was released, let alone DAO, or ME2, or ME3, or DAI. Yes, EA now stipulates that the Frostbite engine be used for all AAA games, which allows for easy porting of the code to all three major platforms and is already owned by EA. But after green-lighting a project, EA has little to nothing to do with the actual design or development of a game beyond setting the overall budget and the expected release date.

MEA was definitely handed to the B-Team, BioWare Montréal, and they dropped the ball. BioWare Edmonton took over and Casey Hudson was brought back and (I think) was given instructions to "get this thing out the door with minimal additional cost" only after it became clear the project had gone seriously off the rails. That wasn't EA's fault, (unless you mean they should have pulled the plug sooner.)
Fred_vdp
Hero+
8 years ago
@mcsupersport wrote:

The biggest two issues with MEA in production was they gave a AAA game to the B team, and then mandated a switch to the Frostbite engine mid development

They used Frostbite from the start.

@ThandalNLyman wrote:

BioWare Edmonton took over and Casey Hudson was brought back and (I think) was given instructions to "get this thing out the door with minimal additional cost" only after it became clear the project had gone seriously off the rails.

Casey Hudson only returned to BioWare in July, which was after the game's release. He replaced Aaryn Flynn as general manager. I think you're perhaps thinking of Mac Walters. Which brings me to the following:

@Delgorath wrote:

They made a huge amount of cash on the pre-orders and diverted funding and staff to Anthem and other projects.

I don't know why people keep saying this, because it was the other way around. BioWare sent senior staff from Edmonton to Montreal to get the project back on track.

@Delgorath wrote:

Bioware dont even exist any more.

As was pointed out, BioWare still has their studios in Edmonton and Texas. The Montreal studio still exists with a large part of its staff, but as part of Motive who they already shared a building with.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Thank all for the information provided on what happen to the game and I really appreciate that all of you took the time to read my Long email (which I can't send to ea for some reason). Deep down I think all of you want the same thing as I do: MEA to produce DLC which would wrap up the game story instead of producing it in a comic form.

I hope my message get out and bioware staff saw my email and think that there are still supporter out there for them and hoping to see more of their work.
ThandalNLyman
8 years ago
@Fred_vdp; Of course you're right, I am thinking of Mac Walters!

But I think it's disingenuous to say that the BioWare Montréal staff were "sent" to Motive. Some, maybe even most by headcount, did switch studios. But I'd bet if you looked at the skill sets and levels of the individuals you'd find it was the most generic types who were offered positions. Animators, level creators, etc. Not writers, art directors, producers, the people who give a game its "character".
taglag45
8 years ago
EA is all about micro transactions, and how to sell the player something, and then keep bilking them out of more, and more money, for less, and less original content.
They are evolving the free to play MMORPG to buy it, and then pay, pay, pay... And then add something like pet's, and then add something like night life, and vampires, and Oh was that sim's 3... but I would need to buy all that again for Sim's 4, or was it something I had to buy in Sim's 2.... ( WE are so predictable, and gullible)
They have a formula, and it works on about 70% of the gamer's out there, and it works so good that the gamer's will even defend it, like its the right thing to do, and anyone that speaks out about it is Ostracized, and spurned.
I see a future where Children, Steal from there Brother's, mothers, and Grandmother, and Whom ever, Just to fix there Micro transaction Addiction.
mcsupersport
Hero+
8 years ago
@taglag45

EA is a business, of course they want to make money and as long as they have gullible fools shelling out money on the reskinned games....aka madden, fifa, sims, battlefield then of course they will keep pumping them out. And as long as those same people shell out mega bucks to get some shiny name to play on their virtual team so they can be LEET, and tell all their buddies how fantastic they are because their team has all the great players and only cost 599.99 then they will continue to produce the games and boxes for people to do this. As far as kids stealing from people, well that has been happening for YEARS...aka Air Jordans, leather jackets, and IPHONES just to name a few, and that is a parenting issue not an EA issue. Parents HAVE to teach their kids better and make them understand they DON'T need all that shiny crap especially digial shiny crap that is going to disappear in a year or so and you can do just as well NOT spending your every dime trying to get a player just to have to forget about him next year cause the new game will not use him.

The good thing I see in the trends, is people are getting tired of MTX and things like Destiny2 and Battlefront 2 are tanking because people are saying enough is enough, and this will force Devs and publishers to be a bit better about how they handle it and hopefully it means we don't have a whole generation of people who can't say NO to shiny digital junk.

My daughter loves Sims4, and yeah we have most of the Xpacks for it, we also have Sims 3 but most of that was bought on sale cheap....my son plays many different games(Starcraft 1, Farcry 3 or 4, and some MEA horde together) with me, for the most part NOT online and the games he does play online(roblox especially) he has learned how to limit what he spends to a very reasonable amount per month...usually 10-20 a month across all games. Me I am a cheap B-------ard......I did the free to play and spend on MTX, got old QUICK, now I buy a game and I MAY spend a TINY amount of money on it in MTX, but I will spend on DLC or extra content, well more than any other MTX. I know I didn't spend any MTX in battlefield 1, DAI, MEA, and refuse to buy Battlefront 2. I do own almost all the DLC in DAI, and would have bought DLC for MEA.