Mass Effect 3 (expect spoilers for the entire series)

[DM Kyle E. Miller]

My problem with multiplayer is that 1) it detracts from the single player game

Nope.  Several people already mentioned Uncharted 2 as a perfect example of how wrong your statement is before you even said it, but I guess that's inconvenient to your desire to spew FUD and so it's easier to just pretend that no one mentioned it.

and/or 2) it affects how the game is designed, esp. for co-op. Look at something like Borderlands, where abilities are geared toward multiplayer. Skills and such can become fixated on co-op play. and

Maybe it's because Borderlands was by design, a First Person Shooter in the gameplay style of Diablo whose emphasis was multiplayer.  Not exactly a good example to use to make your case.

3) it perpetuates multi-player.

What is this supposed to even mean.

As more multi-player games are made and extensions put on regularly single-player games, it will only snowball and grow. Eventually single-player games could be extinct if developers determine that only multi-player sells. The emphasis is already turning toward that.

Ahahaha.  More FUD.  Rest assured, single player gaming experiences aren't going anywhere.  Having multi-player tacked on as an optional component hurts no one.  The ability for other friends to perhaps control squad-mates in combat for Mass Effect 3 if anything, would be a fantastic optional feature.

There is no story in multi-player games. There is no artistic experience, and thus if multi-player wins out over single-player, video games will cease to be on the same level as books, film, and music.

Ahahaha.  Seriously, wow.  Story has been slowly but surely taking more of a role in MMORPGs, and ironically enough, the same company behind Mass Effect is developing The Old Republic, an MMORPG that will have such a heavy story focus that Bioware has numerous full time writers that have been penning material for over two years, all of which will be delivered through insane amounts of voice acting complete with cutscenes using the same presentation style and conversation trees that are present in Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and other Bioware products.

And as before, other players being able to control squad-mates in Mass Effect 3, or hell, Mass Effect 2 would be awesome.  Same exact cinematic story experience, except with friends.  Sounds like a winner to me.

They'll be more like board games. Scrabble might be fun and unique, but it's not a powerful experience.

You have no idea what you are talking about.  Seriously, free your mind and open it up to possibilities.

You're right. You convinced me.

[Eusis]

I already outlined one possibility where adding multiplayer might adversely effect single player, removing the pause from using radial commands, and that's no guarantee anyway. That'd probably only happen if co-op was added and Bioware didn't feel like taking the effort to retain the pause for single player or at least make it an option. As for games where adding multiplayer actually did change and arguably harm single player... the only one I can think of as a definite example is RE5. It removed the inventory system RE4 had, introduced a companion whose mere presence pretty much assured the game lost most chances to be frightening, and while RE4 wasn't very open ended RE5 became more linear for the sake of level chunks more convenient for co-op play. Otherwise, maybe if I dug through developer interviews there'd be other examples, but most of the time if multiplayer's added either there's a strong opportunity for it or it's just a feature you can ignore with no consequence to the single player.

With all that said, promises by EA and SE to focus more on multiplayer and social gaming give me pause, but we'll see where that really goes.

[PaleRobbie]

Alright, to get away from the multiplayer argument, the game's trailer looked cool, and I'm excited to see how Bioware finished off the series.  The third entry in a franchise has a lot to live up to.  Guess this means I'll have to play through 1 (ugh....) and 2 (yay!) again to prepare. 

[Eusis]

Man, that trailer was closer to how I expected ME2 to end, given how they likened it to being the Empire Strikes Back of the series. ME2 was darker but didn't ever give the sense of 'we've lost this round'.

[Esper_Crusader]

I really can't see Bioware skimping on the single player in favor of multiplayer. I don't think they'd compromise the game that way. I have faith that it's going to be a great game. If they want to add multiplayer, I say fine. 

[Farron]

Alright, to get away from the multiplayer argument, the game's trailer looked cool, and I'm excited to see how Bioware finished off the series.  The third entry in a franchise has a lot to live up to.  Guess this means I'll have to play through 1 (ugh....) and 2 (yay!) again to prepare. 

I was thinking the same thing. Then I thought, well instead of putting myself through some pain and go through ME1 again, I'll play it on the ps3 (the comics style), at least there will be no Mako on it.
I rarely buy the same game twice but considering the "Shadowbroker" DLC didn't work till the end on my PC (also in lot's of people pcs) and I don't wanna risk on my all time favorite games (ME2) to have the same fate as KOTOR which won't run on windows vista/seven making me unable to play it again. I had it for xbox 1 but sold the console but now I can't even play it on pc, so all I have left are memories.

I won't let this happen to ME2. So I'll get ME2 for ps3 and ME3 as well.

A little of topic but on Mass Effect still, of course:
I started a playthrough as a female Sheppard because I heard the female VA, Jennifer Hale, if I'm not mistaken, was "all that and even more". Even though she's good, I still think the male Sheppard is a lot more consistent and more tuned with the character, as I mean "the guy who saved the galaxy".

[Parn]

Female Shepard for paragon.  Male Shepard for renegade.  Do this for maximum enjoyment.

[Yoda]

People dogging on the Mako are fools. Yeah, aiming a cursor at a planet was much more entertaining. I'm sure if you looked at the time, driving to all the minerals or whatever in ME1 took about the same time as cursoring planets in ME2. At least in ME1 you know where everything was, in ME2 it was possible to miss shit.

[Eusis]

They fixed the cursor via a patch, and missing stuff's only an issue if you're either OCD or need JUST a bit more. And that's most likely only going to matter with eezo.

[D-Rider]

Female Shepard for paragon.  Male Shepard for renegade.  Do this for maximum enjoyment.

Really?  I do the exact opposite; female Shepard is a total bitch. :P

[PaleRobbie]

I don't think anyone is going to argue that the scanning mini-game in 2 was great.  Both that and the Mako sections are abysmal.  Trying to control that tank on the PC was like playing GTA4 in permanent drunk mode....

....while high on crystal meth.

[GrimReality]

Kick ass about ME3. Sadly, these are the only games I get genuinely excited about anymore.
I still need to get some of the DLC for ME2.
They NEED to find a new way to do the whole mineral finding thing. Personally, I actually liked the stupid Mako more than the planet scanning of 2.
They need to just integrate it into the regular areas, and not have it be a separate thing.

[Yoda]

A great fucking way to get minerals and shit is salvaging from a battle. Have a space battle, or maybe an assault mission and then you just recover items. The harder the mission, the better the payoff.

The problem is with space battles in the ME universe. If you read the codex crap from ME1 they say that it's basically huge capital ships in a battle of attrition. Fighters are basically suicide attacks because automatic targeting vaporizes them

[Lazlowe1984]

Female Shepard for paragon.  Male Shepard for renegade.  Do this for maximum enjoyment.

Really?  I do the exact opposite; female Shepard is a total bitch. :P

Yeah same here.My FemShep tortures,murders and intimidates her way into the galaxy.If the Reapers think they are ruthless,FemShep will show off human cruelty at its finest

[Lord Scottish]

No Mass Effect fan am I, but I would like to point out that the Baldur's Gate games also featured multiplayer, with no adverse effect on the single player experience. So Bioware is absolutely capable of getting this right.