Mass Effect 2 Teaser Trailer

[Volourn]

"Bio can also let go free again if they screw up or EA get's into trouble"

 

Really? BIo cna just walk away from EA if they're unhappy? You mean EA paid a billion dollars yet don't own BIO yet they were able to close down a part of BIO's cohorts? That's very interetsing.

 

And, no, they're a division. The fact that BIO is still a seperate logo is relaly no different than what BIS was (except BIS was a creation of Interplay from the start). They're a division of EA. This means EA has final say, BIO does not. The fact that BIO still has some seperation doesn't mean they can just do their own thing, and say screw EA. If BIO wants to do x game they need EA's permission. Period.

[Morgoth]

"Bio can also let go free again if they screw up or EA get's into trouble"

 

Really? BIo cna just walk away from EA if they're unhappy? You mean EA paid a billion dollars yet don't own BIO yet they were able to close down a part of BIO's cohorts? That's very interetsing.

 

And, no, they're a division. The fact that BIO is still a seperate logo is relaly no different than what BIS was (except BIS was a creation of Interplay from the start). They're a division of EA. This means EA has final say, BIO does not. The fact that BIO still has some seperation doesn't mean they can just do their own thing, and say screw EA. If BIO wants to do x game they need EA's permission. Period.

I doubt Bio is unhappy with EA. But EA let go of Pandemic Brisbane a month ago because they failed to release that Batman game. I mean wow. Set into the wild. Not shut down. Just let go. That's great if you ask me.

 

Yes, yes, they're a division, blabla. But it's still the same company, and still the same people there working. It's not like they fired all Bio staff overnight, replaced them with EA staff and only keep the logo. That's just ridicilous.

Besides, the Bio doctors are also EA vice presidents, so that means they have some say as well - OVER BIOWARE. And yes, they keep doing what they want, after all, that's what makes Bioware so succesful. They make the right decisions that benefits them (creatively) and EA (economically).

 

BIS is a flawed comparision, as BIS was created from Interplay, and only existed as the RPG label. But Bio was formed independently. Bio is Bio. EA would be stupid to change that, and everybody knows that.

[Hurlshort]

Bioware would have to buy out their contract most likely if it wanted to break off with EA. A lot of companies have done that in the past, Turbine managed to convince Microsoft to sell off all the properties it had created, and they've managed to be very successful on their own. But as long as Bioware and EA are moving towards the same goals, I don't see that happening any time soon.

 

Morgoth has a very valid point about independent studios. Nothing has changed at Bioware because of the EA deal. Every developer has to work with the publisher and is expected to meet goals, the difference is Bioware used to work on a game by game basis with a publisher. EA now has an interest in every property they are working on. This is great because it probably helps with funding during early stages, but it can be constrictive because Bioware has to run their projects by EA.

 

People get worried because if a project becomes a problem (say the KotOR MMO faces major delays), EA can step in and demand cuts to get the product out. But honestly that is a fear with and developer/publisher relationship, short or long term. The more money invested, the more control they can yield.

 

Also, I know the team that creates the NHL hockey series is an independent team. As long as they get their product out the door in time and stable, everything is roses with EA. I believe Tiburon is the same way with Madden. EA handles advertising and distribution, like every other publisher out there.

 

But I'm sure volologic will intercede here and despite the fact both Morgoth and volourn are correct, Volo will tell us we are all wrong and the world is black and white. There is no middle ground! Business relationships are cut and dry, not complicated whatsoever.

[Volourn]

"Also, I know the team that creates the NHL hockey series is an independent team. As long as they get their product out the door in time and stable, everything is roses with EA. I believe Tiburon is the same way with Madden. EA handles advertising and distribution, like every other publisher out there."

 

Sure. This is true. But, they're still property of EA even if they have the independence to do what they want. As long as they make EA happy, they'll be left alone; but if EA dissaproves they can step in, and do what they want.

 

As for the BIO dcos being EA VPs (whatever that actually entails) just helps prove my point. BIO answers to EA. EA controls BIO. And, yeah, I already stated and agreed that BIO isn't EXACTLY like BIS. Did you even read my post or did you just spam something 'opposite' just for kicks? BIS was a part of Interplay just as BIO is a part of EA. Any game made by BIO now is, by default, an EA game as well.

 

The fact that BIO would have to 'buy' their freedom EA just lends credence to the fact that BIO is own by EA, and is part of EA ie division. And, they cna only leave if EA 'allows' it through selling them or whatever.

 

All this, of course, depends solely on how the contract was when EA bought BIo which none of us what exactly it entails except the cost which was made public.

 

 

 

P.S. ME2 will be awesome, and I'll be shocked if Shepard is actually dead.

Edited February 22, 2009 by Volourn

[Morgoth]

So, now you're becoming sober after all. But what's that crap with "EA is making ME2" then?

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Sometimes I think "What if Volo is just a troll?".

 

But then I facepalm. This is heresy, I should not speak it.

[Volourn]

"So, now you're becoming sober after all. But what's that crap with "EA is making ME2" then?"

 

Do we really need to repeat the last half page or so? I don't really mind it; but others might. Your choice.

[Morgoth]

Bioware is developing ME2, not EA. Period

[Volourn]

Delusional much? BIO is just a part of EA so when BIO does something it means EA does it.

[Morgoth]

Who is delusional here? Bioware and EA are still two different companies, even if EA owns Bio.

 

Bio develops ME2, EA publishes it. Two different companies.

 

Wake up, man.

[Volourn]

"EA owns Bio."

 

GAME OVER.

 

 

"ea OWNS bio"

 

GAME OVER

 

 

"EA OWNS BIO EA OWNS BIO EA OWNS BIO"

 

GAME OVER

[Morgoth]

Bio makes ME2.

 

GAME OVER MAN GAME OVER!

[kirottu]

 

Epic.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

[Meshugger]

Eh, has anyone actually seen the contract between EA and Bioware? Or was it even made public? Otherwise, we're just grasping straws.

[Gorth]

That trailer did leave a bit to be desired didn't it?

 

That is, judging by the passion that the relationship between EA and Bioware seems to generate compared to the trailer.

[tripleRRR]

That trailer did leave a bit to be desired didn't it?

 

That is, judging by the passion that the relationship between EA and Bioware seems to generate compared to the trailer.

 

 

Yes it did, I guess that's why they're called "teasers."

 

In all seriousness though, Shepherd better not be dead. That would be seriously not cool Bio.

[Calax]

I can see why they'd want to remove the PC from the first game. They don't want to have people running around overpowered if they carryover their save game (with all the specter specific equipment making the game a cakewalk for the old hands, and the new hands having to fight through the low levels). So they'd set it up so that you've got a new PC and a different motley crew of adventurers and you might end up having to pick up Shepard's trail and put together his investigation to keep the fight with the reapers alive.

[Pop]

I'll just cut and paste a post I made on another forum.

Kv, how would they reconcile the fact that I've got an essentially maxed character and my housemate does not? Will the game be easy for me and hard for him just because I put in another five or ten hours of play? It makes more sense to me to have a new character for a new game, and I think I'd enjoy that more.

Also, I have only ever seen it said that 'choices made will continue to have an effect', not that you will get to play your character still. Where is there room for expansion and development in your character now?

That is just the way I see it.

I assume that Bioware will use the same tricks it used in Baldur's Gate 2, that most RPGs have utilized in the past. They set a minimum level of experience for ME2, say, level 50 or 55. Like in most games with a level system the higher you go with it, the less impact a new level has (although in relative terms, ME's leveling system was very, very gradual anyway)

 

If you saved a character from BG1 and ported it to BG2, it would measure your xp level. If it was below the minimum, it would automatically level you up to that point. If it was above the minimum, then your character was unaffected. That way you don't feel cheated if you went through and did absolutely everything in BG1. If you started a new character in BG2 you were set to the minimum. Another thing, Bioware games and western RPGs in general are very flexible as a general rule - I know of a few eastern RPGs in which you cannot proceed through the game unless you're at a certain level. In games like BG2 and ME they have a system under the hood that adjusts most encounters somewhat based on your character ability (though not to the Oblivion extreme)

 

Another near-inevitability is that they'll overhaul the character creation system for the higher levels. Using Baldur's Gate as an example again (because it's such a good one), in BG2 when you created a character you had to choose your weapon proficiencies, and there were quite a lot of them. Long swords, scimitars, two-handed swords, katanas, daggers, short swords, etc. But if you started a character in BG1, you'd find that there were only over-arching categories of weapons. Long swords, scimitars, et al would all be encompassed under the Great Sword proficiencies, daggers and short swords would fall under Short Blade proficiencies, and so on. If they had kept BG1's proficiency system in place for BG2 a mid-level warrior would competently be able to use every weapon in the game, which is broken. So they shook up their system. In ME2 they'll probably increase the number of weapons you can use and add more passive skills (like fitness)

 

I think it's likely that they'll completely overhaul the system. If you had a mage character from BG1 and you ported it to BG2 you'd have to level up your character from scratch no matter your circumstances. They had added and removed a number of spells from the game, so on the off chance that your character had learned a spell that was no longer in the game they let you choose your spellbook again from the new list. The downside to this was that if you had a full spellbook at the end of BG1 you lost a good number of spells. ME2 won't have that problem because you don't gain abilities outside of leveling. But they could very well change things up from ME's rather boring "progress bar" skill progression to something more interesting, maybe something that differentiates different characters of the same class. Perhaps a skill tree w/ stats ala Diablo 2. Really, utilizing one special ability per skill bar was not a very smart move on Bioware's part. If they do change things up in ME2 they'll have to make every single player reroll his character but I don't think that will be a big deal considering how relatively low-hassle it was to level up in ME1. Overhauling the system will also allow them to rebalance the game and make Shepard not quite a God without actually having to explicitly reduce his power.

 

Continuing the whole BG2 thing (they've said that BG2 is their template for ME2, which is encouraging) I would also expect that some of the party NPCs from ME1 are killed off in ME2. Only a few of BG1's many potential CNPCs made it into BG2. A few were killed off in the time between BG1 and BG2. Whatever event leads to the teaser I would expect would kill a few NPCs. My money's on Tali - relative to other characters she got pretty short shrift with regard to backstory in ME1. Several other characters could bite it. They'll fill their shoes with new NPCs, and they may expand the pool beyond the standard ME1 "one character of every character type" template. Maybe they'll add some NPCs who are less benevolent than "mercenary with a heart of gold".

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

You guys don't get it. Its a cry for help from Bioware.

 

See, the human armor represents Bioware (since its a body) and all the humanity they used to have and how we all loved them because they were a nice company. And the geth head represents EA, who's taken control and ruins our good old human hero!

 

IM TELLING YOU IM RITE

[Volourn]

L0L

 

 

"In all seriousness though, Shepherd better not be dead. That would be seriously not cool Bio."

 

Actually, it would eb cool. Besdies, like mentioned above, unless BIo completely overhauls ME2's combat system, our Shepards tm are pretty much maxed out as is. There's no real reason to bother levelling in ME2 unless they add super duper overpowered new abilities that make the ones completely irrelevant. That's the main reason why I want Shepard to be gone.

 

Or what would be neat is if he's assumed dead so you play another character, and you eventually find Shepard alive, he joins your group, and you have two PCs. HAHA!

 

But, sadly, this is likely just a fake out hence why it is known as a 'teaser'.

 

 

[neckthrough]

I think I'd like Shepherd to die, if only to piss off the idiot fanbois over at the Bioware forums.

[Wrath of Dagon]

"Because if it sold well they'd be boasting from here to creation,"

 

They did exactly that.

 

 

"Plus the price was dropped a few months after it came out, never a good sign."

 

Many successful games price drop after a few months. ME took awhile to drop. It's still being sold at a reasonable price in the stores around here. Not full price; but not bad.

 

 

 

"And no, it wouldn't be a failure if it at least paid for itself, most games don't even do that."

 

if it was expected to sell 4 mil, and it only sold 2 mil; that's a failure. Afterall, budgets are set with expectations in mind.

 

 

Still, none of what youi post si really evidence. Not even anecdotal. Heck, not even really accurate. And, mostly vague. 'Price dropped afetr a few months." By how much? How many months? You throw things out there but don't even bother with numbers.

I know it's not proof. I don't have the numbers, I'm working from memory. I remember I was surprised how fast the price dropped, and I know they initially announced they shipped 1.6 million to retailers (not sold through) and then I never saw another sales announcement. I'm going on my gut feeling here, based on all the little scraps of info I picked up here and there. Only insiders have the full story. And I didn't say "expected", I said "hoped for". You are right though in that Bioware no longer exists as a separate legal entity.

[Hell Kitty]

I assume they'll do something like Pop mentions with importing from BG to BG2. I'll actually be disappointed if there aren't any changes in the character creation system.

 

As for Shepards apparent death, I'd like to keep playing as the character, but I'm not against starting as a new one. I don't doubt for a second that rumors of her death will be greater exaggerated, and if they exist as an NPC in the game, I'd like how they act to be based on the imported save game, as in my character was a total paragon in ME so that's how they'll be in ME2.

 

Regarding importing save games, I'm more interested in how my actions in ME will change things in ME2, like saving Queenie or refusing to sell to the Shadow Broker.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Hell Kitty

[Volourn]

"I know they initially announced they shipped 1.6 million to retailers (not sold through)"

 

I remember them bragging aboutselling something like 750k or something within the first week or soemthing like that. I wouldn't be surprised if it sold between 1 mil-2 mil on the 360 alone. Don't think it sold huge on the PC, though, which doesn't surprise me much.