Thread: Mass Effect 3 - Goes all Multiplayer

Hmmmmmmmm recent reports of Mass Effect 3 getting a multiplayer component have been confirmed by Bioware. The traditional Multiplayer concept is out and in comes Horde mode and co-op missions that do not appear to be tied into the main story Arc. Playing and completing these missions will see your character unlocking extra items and XP but they will not have an impact on your Characters ending. Players will create characters unique to this mode, so don?t expect to see 4 Shepard clones running around. But at least they will have access to all the classes available in the single player portion of the game, along with the option of playing as any of the major races found in the universe.

Not much more is known at this point but with the Demo due in a few months and the launch not to far away we'll be hearing more towards the end of the year.

Im sure it will be an instantly forgettable addition to the mass effect (much like Dead Space 2's MP component)

Not sure why anyone is surprised, the head honcho for EA said a while back that all releases from them will have multi-player components.

Form what I've read about this iteration of MP, any killing you do in MP will add as XP or resources in your single player game..
You can still earn XP/resources in the single player game but it will take longer (or more likely more mining of planets)

So, buy it new & get a method that will let you complete the game quicker than playing it just with single player... and then you'll sell it... wait.. wasn't this whole idea by EA to stop people selling a game?

Something tells me Project 10 dolla is going off the rails & its no longer about reducing 2nd hand sales, but embracing them & forcing a payment from it.

Its a mostly single player experience, Heres an idea wallet watchers.. Dont buy on release.. After a couple months, the game will be reduced, you'll be able to buy it for less than the original release price & still get the online component! (Ive just done similar with Deus Ex, great game, worth 40 quid possibly, but 15 quid is so much a better price! Limited Edition version too) - Its single player, your not missing out by starting it a little later from release date!

Form that 40-15 drop, whos lost the money?
I can safely say it isnt the developers.

Originally Posted by msross

whos lost the money? I can safely say it isnt the developers.

Then who is does lose money?! Damn it man, don't leave us hanging! The flipside to waiting is that I believe someone on this site is looking for Ace Combat 6 to finish his achievements, a game that came out in 2007 and its seems to be selling for silly money. What happens to all the pre-owned copies - do they destroy 80% to drive up demand?

Originally Posted by Samorai

Then who is does lose money?! The flipside to waiting is that I believe someone on this site is looking for Ace Combat 6 to finish his achievements, a game that came out in 2007 and its seems to be selling for silly money. What happens to all the pre-owned copies - do they destroy 80% to drive up demand?

For a company that isnt owned by a publisher.. They're essentially taking on the monetry risk from debt, or perhaps they're last release was such they have cash in surplus!..
More than likely however, they get cash from a deal with a publisher when certain pre-decided deadlines are hit.
(You'll hear of games getting pulled because a publisher didnt think it was up to scratch & so it gets shopped around looking for another publisher).
(an example of this is currently Telltale games who's Jurassic Park game is not being released in Europe because they do not have a publisher)

So devs tend to get a flat rate or a small cut of profits at best and their cut is the same. (a better selling game gives them a better negotiating position for the next release)

Publishers take control of the advertising, & usually the distribution network & all the other gumff that goes along with it..
They set that legally unenforceable RRP (more commonly known as MRP these days)...

EA/Activision & so on will have deals in place with wholesalers/distribution networks to get them more favourable terms, which lets them keep costs down somewhat..
The supply chain of pre-orders & the hype machine lets them make an estimated production run that again keeps the costs down (its just as easy to produce 3 million as 10,000, but the costs are lower per item)

Stores work off a 5% markup of the price, which is why they will happily sit on a fiver for a month beforehand with pre-orders..
(as well as knowing a base number of games to order for each store).. There's a small amount of undercutting, but the main ones to do this are generally the supermarkets trying to muscle into the sector and happily creating it as a loss leader.

Come sales day, everyones happy, money rolls in.. ker-ching ching..


This is now where prices start to fall..
If activision over produced but didnt sell (to wholesalers or direct) they will lose money on storage space and production costs.. they will then more than likely do deals with wholesalers/stores, EG : order 50 of next game, get a free copy of this game.. (it lets them offset sales by upselling their next product getting that money back)

wholesalers have a similar problem & will push it that way too, cutting costs of that item (or even selling at a loss), but selling with that new product...

Retailers are slowest to react and whilst they will take cheaper copies, they tend to sell at higher prices (more profit & unless theyre heading into a price war, they want to keep prices roughly the same)

That's why Amazon's is cheap currently, they over ordered for the number of sales of their exclusive edition, they dont want a warehouse filled with stock that isnt moving.. (they lose money because they bought it & its not selling, lose money because its space that cant be used by anything else, increases chance of loss (theft/breakage) within the warehouse)

Its not that money is lost, just that money is then moved against another product....


As for Ace Cumbot 6, who is it? - I think thats still highly priced for an old game because it wasnt produced in high numbers & the people who bought it might not be the sort who resell, not a huge amount of resalable items... No idea why theres still demand for it though.

it really bugs me that people come out and say "oh dont put MP in, it will ruin it" and "we dont want MP". how the fuck do they know it wont be the best thing ever? they dont. wait and see and yes, if its shit complain to high heavens, but for god sake at least wait.

dead space is an example of added on MP being shit (by most accounts, i never played it lol). but look at ACB, people bitched and moaned and cried their arses off about putting MP in AC, and thats actually pretty good, its quite fun and by what ive read and played at eurogamer ACR will be even better.

My 2 pence worth is basically the following.....

If it adds in any way to whats is almost certainly going to be a magnificent game then i am all for it. I would have loved to play the campaign with other players, no matchmaking invite only would have been amazing. Adding this sort of mode is a halfway house a distraction and if they keep supporting it after launch maybe through DLC and altering the missions it could be a decent little addition.

Bioware rarely do things half arsed

i dont mind them adding it, as long as it doesnt have any impact on how good the SP is

Originally Posted by ColdTech

i dont mind them adding it, as long as it doesnt have any impact on how good the SP is

I hope it doesn't the only way it might impact would be to remove people from the development side of the single player. Dont see it having any real impact though

This is a game you don't want a multi in.

Not that its MP, but the main story & divergence storylines got leaked today..
(there was even one in the chatbox earlier today!)

The Co-Op side of things dont interact with the main story in too much way..

NeoGaf got the details of it first, but after a C&D from MS (who originated the leak) the thread was pulled & threats of bannage is now the order of the day for people who menion it there..

Heres one spoiler to begin with :

( Click to show/hide )

You can choose between Male Shep & Female Shep

That ones mental innit!