Tag Archives: Bioware

October 25, 2024 · 15:20

When future and past are similar

I made a jump today, it was into the past. Somewhere between the release of Battlehorn Castle and November 2011, I had an idea. A set of quests to ‘automate’ defences and infrastructure in magic. It use actual NPC’s but beyond that, nearly everything went. It went nowhere (as it was not my IP). Yet the idea stayed in my mind. And today I ‘remembered’ the idea I had. 

It can be applied in numerous ways. It might be a DLC for Guerrilla (the Horizon IP), it could be added to any number of non-Microsoft IP’s and it could be added as a simple structure to anything. You see, the IP is sound and versatile as is any good given DLC.

So how did this idea come to pass?

As I revered Elder scrolls (for a long time), the setting of adding to Castle Battlehorn became overwhelming. I found myself wondering how any castle could be without guards. So I set out and created a magical oven, with at the heart the device it replicated. There was a blunt oven (maces) a sharp oven (swords), a range oven (bows) and a guardian oven (Halberts). And every oven needs to be create a few times. Then there was the issue of what materials as used. Iron, steel, or more advanced materials. You needed a forge to create the bars of material and the wood blocks to create the handles. As such, nothing is really made out of nothing (initially) but the setting applies. As you create a more advanced weapon more time per weapon is needed and the machine places it in the basket. A simple weapon (iron, or wood) is about an hour with a maximum of 6 per oven. Getting the weapon in Silver, or gold take more two or four hours. I didn’t want rely on Bethesda weapons to not get them on my back. And as such we now had a near automated weapon system. You needed to be able to forge the master weapon like a iron sword, steel sword or silver sword and the rest was made as long as you had the metals. In the upgraded version I upgraded the machine to require less materials whilst the manufacturing remains the same after that the next upgrade required less time, as such you added to the machines and had a abled guarding setting to your castle.

Then came the kitchens and there the stoves could set out food in bulk for the troops. And with every pen you had, you would add to the specials that the troops would like. A chicken coup, a cow pen, a pig pen and as such the foods would enable much stronger and more resilient troops. The option occurred to create a vegetable patch and as the troops grew, so would the need for more food.

I played with the idea on a few levels and in the end Skyrim was released and I buried the idea in the back of my mind. For some reason the thought got back to me on my morning walk. But in this setting I made a crossover between the bank job in Thief and Horizon Zero dawn (as this is released in 5 days), You see e have the foundries in Horizon for one reason, but what happens if there is a DLC that gets Aloy into a secret location where all is automated. There isn’t a kitchen, but all else remains. Sentries, guardians, servants and the place was all forgotten. Aloy would have to rely on stealth to get things done and that changes the game. She would have to find materials to create hidden paths. And that could be a more sinister task at hand. In the end there needs to be  great reward (like advanced stealth armour) and more powerful weapons. Optionally a more rewarding boon so that the DLC could be in any Horizon game.

I like to think that Guerrilla might like the idea of that DLC to hand to their respectful fans. There are a few other thoughts that I am considering, but out of all of the optional issues is the fact that I created a dozen ideas, all whilst Ubisoft is dropping stock (or better stated their stock dropped). And whilst we see “AJ Investments to go private after Star Wars Outlaws” I merely created over half a dozen IP ideas. Sucks to be Ubisoft. In other news Microsoft stock dropped 7%. They blame their cloud revenue. I say that mediocrity never leads to high praise. I reckon that Oracle largely protected a landslide sell off on Microsoft cloud issues. The creative people rule in almost all IT sides and Gaming has been largely responsible for better IT design from the 90’s onwards. BI people need to realise this and not play the blame game. If they need to blame someone they need only look into a mirror. 

And that sets the creative people apart. Not everything is a sure thing. Nintendo showed us that with the WiiU, it also led to the Switch which blew Microsoft out of the water in half the time that Microsoft needed to make minimum revenue (or more clearer stated, it took Microsoft from 2013 to 2017 to create the revenue which was surpassed by Switch within 18 months) That is the true sign of innovation. I believe that Microsoft is trusting its own spin, all whilst the creative will shoot any spin to smithereens in half that time and there is more to come. As Guerrilla will release the third game somewhere in 2026-2028, whatever Ubisoft or Microsoft had will be reduced to nothing in no time flat. Horizon was the latest true innovative IP in gaming and everything else fades next to it. This also holds true to whatever BioWare will bring in the shape of Mass Effect 5. Even there I had some idea (somewhere in my blog). The problem isn’t merely the bugs we faced in Andromeda (mostly PC) the design was shoddy. There were real moments of brilliance, but I feel that the wrong people tried to make a name for themselves and that went wrong. I set the stand for 5 to include 4 (or Andromeda) to give the fans something to bite into. And that would have created a much larger wave (my personal imagination). Now as we are given that it will not (speculated) come before 2028, people like Guerrilla will get a free reign with optionally gaming fans giving up on their Xbox (yay me). In any event, the set stage as I gave it in 2022 is now more robust as Microsoft has given us too little and Ubisoft has seemingly cancelled more than it released. Now the streamers will have their moment in creating the setting of a lifetime with the optional Tencent or the established Amazon Luna to create a new niche of millions of fans. I foresaw a first phase release of 50,000,000 consoles. With Microsoft only having sold 58 million there is a real state of transfer of gaming fans on a global stage. I envisioned a setting where that streaming solution could grace 150-200 million homes. The Microsoft BI group might want to say that this isn’t realistic, but as I didn’t fight the excellence of Sony or Nintendo. The streaming solution could be next to it, not replacing this. The very first mistake Microsoft made. And now as I have been correct a lot more than I was wrong, I feel certain that the ‘larger’ software houses seems to be ‘placed’ with the Microsoft mindset and we are now shown that it was the wrong mindset from the very beginning. Should Guerrilla also grace the streaming niche I reckon that some players might be going the way of investors of 1929 (read: jumping out of a window, not to be mistaken for a Russian suicide streak).

How wrong am I?

The interesting and valid question. The problem is that the media is not to be trusted. It is filled with stakeholders who need Microsoft to do well and they will downplay the drop of Microsoft. But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft and Ubisoft are seemingly run by Business Intelligence. It makes for a solid core, but excellence (in gaming) is never found that way. It is the creative mind that does that and not to forget the story writers as well. These elements are less seen in the games of today and again Guerrilla is the exception that establishes the rule. As such games of today, software houses of today are grasping back to yesterdays games to make up for that failing. There is also the need to replay the old games (a drive that is not to be underestimated). Yet as far as I can see the horizon, I believe to be correct and should Tencent decide to buy my IP, I will be able to prove it.

Have a wonderful Friday (Vancouver gets to see that in around 3 hours).

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July 19, 2024 · 19:18

A second visit

Well, it might have been a third time that I take a view towards an altered IP. This isn’t mine, it’s actually the property of Microsoft. The first game (Mass Effect) was released in 2007 and Mass Effect 2 was released in 2010. Mass Effect 2 is still regarded by many (and me) as one of the greatest tactical shooters. Mass Effect 3 is good, but it also gave us the greatest multi player shooters ever made. These two elements are the grounds of the massive fanbase of the series. 

The present we got at the launch party is still regarded by me as the coolest ever (see above), all the guests got one with themselves as the SPECTRE agent. 

At the end of game 3 there were a lot of complaints. I think that one was shoddy to some effect and it should have been set better, but the story was awesome. There were 4 endings (I never found the 4th, but I saw it on YouTube). And whilst going into this I accidentally found out another part which I will illuminate soon enough. It seems that Facebook is catering to Microsoft with accusations of spam. But I have my response for Facebook ready. Anyway back to the story. 

The new setting I created was set on the citadel. It happens after the slaughter starts and before Shepard makes its entry. In these weeks (optionally months) we are on the citadel. It has the familiar places (Embassy module and the stages from Mass Effect 2, yet there are a few hundred more places. This is a stealth game.

The story is that an engineer had smuggled his family on board, as such it he/she had a hiding place. As the slaughter (read: ascendancy) continues, this engineer needs to sneak its way around. The first thing that needs to be done is to secure water and sustenance. Also oxygen is needed (for the long haul).

Every place has three versions. The dirty stage (with bodies), the cleaning stage (with keepers) and the clean stage. They all have their own issues. 

One of the stages is to secure personnel manifests (with local celebrity locations), locations of interest and local artefacts. 

The races are Asari, Drell, Elcor, Hanar, Humans, Keepers, Salarians, Turians, Volus, Batarians, Geth, Krogan, Quarians, Vorcha, Yahg. The races in bold are the selectable races. In the citadel the Batarians, Quarians, Vorcha and Yahg have no embassy. As such they are the harder species to play. The Quarians (when found) will have information on the Geth. The Turians have data on Vorcha and Yahg and so on. As the game progresses once you have the data, you will face a setting where you have to install monitors all over the station to record what is happening as well as to set alarms so you can sneak your way around the station. You need to get a electronic shroud (a sort of digital cloak), enhance your hiding place as well as creating a few others where you can heal and rest in safety. In normal play the game will ignore several issues, but in hard more it will ‘see’ recording devices and start a hunt for you. Once this starts, you will have to set up a decoy to reset the alarm, the hiding place will be lost forever. 

To set this up it is more then a simple matter. The keepers are thorough in cleaning, as such it will be important to remain invisible. The largest issue I see isn’t merely locations, This place is huge. 

As you can see it is quite big. One idea is to set the stage by race (and most of the game on one of the platforms. It requires one huge LLM with deeper machine learning to create the levels. As I see it, per race you will need up to a dozen buildings (skyscrapers) to cover essential needs for the game. You will have to get the hardware you require for the tasks. The shopping district (ME2) should give you a camera and digital storage. No weapons in this game, however an idea comes to mind to get something like a mining laser (to cut through matter) and tools to open other areas.

Although the game seems straight forward. The idea came to me that the maker optionally have loads of other lore and concept art that they never used in the game. There would be use for them here. Also, other races would have data on humans like the illusive man, Shepard and so on. 

The larger setting I see is how to create a sphere of thrill and suspense that makes a stealth game, a stealth game. You see in ‘cheaper’ stealth games you carry everything making you a bulkier version of you with a backpack 15 times the size of you. So it is important to set the ‘sneak factor’ to find upgrades and better hardware to do the job. The shopping district will have a version one or two of an essential tool, but better versions need to be found. In addition to that, to set the tools to a random location requires a more spiffy setting. Or as they say, to be placed in ulterior locations where we have 1000 places it could be, but with references on items in logs (embassy and security). Then there is the idea of replayability. So as the citadel has hundreds of buildings per pillar, the stage comes that in a second game (with the same race) you will get confronted with different buildings. Similar but not identical, which gives new vibes to the game.

So, whilst we all see what Microsoft is up to with more rehashing the same idea. I took one look at a great game and created (optional) new IP in a day. This is why I see Microsoft as an agent of mediocrity. Now I will accept that this is not enough. More is needed to make this a great game, but I got them this in under a day (it is basically Microsoft IP). So feel free to to wonder what Microsoft is blundering around. If I can get this done in under a day, what are they seeking to rehash the old days? Don’t get me wrong I played Age of Mythology when it released in 2002 and it is a great game, optionally to play again. But considering all the IP they have (or should have) this is not enough. Lets face it they have GREAT IP. The Flight Simulator (2020) has truly become a great game (it was always great). It is a niche market, but for those into flight simulators it is the bees knees. Bioware had many great games. My personal favourite in D&D (Neverwinter nights, 2002) is still one of the greatest fantasy games ever. Both Dragon Age and Jade empires (not my favourites) are good games, where are they now? The problem is that some games need their scope readjusted. To coin an idea, the Multiplayer version of Mass Effect 3 could have been launched on the Xbox series X as a free to play game on that console. And free to play is important is important. They can still offer the loot boxes in the same way they did. For points fought over, or for a few dollars. And there is a market. This game is still played after 12 years. The is one hell of an achievement for a game released in 2012. So why didn’t Microsoft act? I got to the top 1% of players in 2013, there were over 1.2 million players at that point. Considering that the PS5 outsells the Xbox-X by 5:1 I would think that they squandered their markets. And this is a game that can flock hundreds of thousands to the Xbox (in addition to any other system), and no one thought this was a good idea?

As I personally see it Phil Spencer was all about capturing the player base (read: legally stealing), yet the the idea of bolstering its player base by offering playability was seemingly lost to him. And his hard times are yet to come. As I see it I might not have another option but to hand my IP to Tencent technologies. Partially this idea comes as Facebook removed my previous post under the fake guise of spam, which was not the case. The idea has merit as within two years Facebook would lose millions of advertisers. Troll farms create a lot of traffic, but not a lot of commerce, merely fake locations to advertise to, when retailers figure that part out, they will find another place to go to and there is my solution. I saw this three years ago, Whilst everyone was diving for digital dollars any way they could. I saw that the power of it all relies on engagement. And a troll farm only ‘seemingly’ engages. True engagement is seen elsewhere. That is the achilles heel of Facebook and the strength of Amazon (Tencent optionally too). So as I see it Microsoft lost out two times. Didn’t you wonder why Chrome has a market share of 65% and Edge a mere 5%? They aren’t looking in the wrong direction, they aren’t looking in the proper place to begin with. And I added my gaming idea as optional evidence part N. 

A setting overlooked due to the principle of spin. So whilst Microsoft relies on ‘The most powerful console in the world’, Sony and Nintendo are relying on the factor of fun and play and they are winning This year Nintendo had 123,000,000 players. Sony has 118,000,000 players. Now compare that with Microsoft and their 27.7 million consoles. And Tencent technologies is knocking at the door taking optionally more market share away from Microsoft. That is how bad it will get and I saw this 3 years ago. This is why I tried to get the solution to Kingdom Holding (so far no luck). In this environment Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud could score big, optionally the largest gain they ever had (speculative thinking by me). 

My weekend has stated, in Vancouver the day is only starting. Enjoy!

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November 27, 2023 · 20:11

Retrenching my mind

We all go through this, I am no different. At times I need to retrench my mind. I reckon it happens a lot more often when you are creative. This all started on the go. It merely happened one moment. You see with the blunders Microsoft employed, I cannot give any support to them. As such Bethesda is now also out of the equation. I redid the stories for Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration and I have pushed them towards indie developers as freeware. Optionally creating more and more competitors for the Bethesda population. Making Microsoft smaller and others bigger. The remarks by everyone’s favourite loser (Phil Spencer) who seemingly said “studios who can spend $200-300 million and automatically produce a hit that will more than cover that.” As I see it. He is off his rocker by a lot. Indie developers never had that amount of money and from them we got from Hello Games (No Man’s Sky), Roguelike (Hades), Mojang, now Microsoft (Minecraft) and there are more. What is important that the GamePass push (as I see it) can be avoided and to get the free IP, the makers merely need to push their game to anything EXCEPT Microsoft. With the Tencent Technology handheld that becomes a lot easier and it allows for a massively larger gaming group. 

Still, they aren’t alone. Bioware (Edmonton, Alberta) is still an option and even as I created the thought for Mass Effect 5 (whilst reusing Mass Effect 4) giving the gamers twice the game for one amount and a much larger story. I did away with the memory points (they made no sense at all on planets they never visited), but I revamped the idea in other ways. In addition to the stages we would reuse is adding a third level usage and optionally different management points. I also came up with the stage that the SPECTRE agent had additional options on Nexus and it would be massively bigger. With Hyperion being larger as well, to facilitate a more ‘realistic’ stage, we get another stage with Nexus when the other ships docks. Consider that the ‘original’ had a mere dozen missions on the Hyperion. Now it will hold close to 100 missions and some need to be ‘discovered’ showing you the engineering section, the server sections as well as bioengineering and water reclamation settings. 

But the nexus needed to be more. Set the larger stage that certain planets could only fuel certain missions on Elaaden, Eos, Kadara and Voeld when certain points are reached on the Nexus. The almost same happens, but for example Voeld when it warms up has another stretch but only when the servers and water reclamation are correctly working together. That limited AI would see through certain matters and it would set the stage the nexus AI wold connect to the Ja Niihk Dig Site AI and uncover two more locations. Now we get into the ME5 part. You cannot do planet by planet, but stages are in play and it also opens up the story to more. As such the one overhaul is narration. In addition to that in your quarters you can listen to all the uncovered narration and also additional storylines are opened there and open new missions. It had taken me less then a day, but in that setting Mass Effect 5 is a lot bigger and in that ME4 becomes 3 times the size. It will make much more sense and it becomes a true contender to the original trilogy. Here you go Bioware, you are most welcome.

Consider the sides missed (read: optionally overlooked). Consider that the cost of Mass Effect: Andromeda was around 40 million. Now consider that for 50% more you get an adjusted ME4, ME5 as well as a kick ass solution in gaming. The idea for the adjustment was essential. Even though MEA wasn’t bad, it got a mere 71%, which would now evolve into a 85%+ game with (hopefully) ME5 surpassing it at 90%+. Another side was to evolve the base settings on all the worlds. As the systems evolve, both Voeld and Elaaden would have the strongest impacts. Still, It isn’t about making a game merely better, the story needs to evolve and the story needs to gain sides. The negative part (conjecture) is that even as Elaaden becomes better, it becomes a little too cool for the Krogan’s. The setting I am going here for is that the ME5 parts will offer two sides, activate systems or leave them alone. Only if ALL are activated an additional side and an additional world becomes visible. They are all connected and with all the AI’s interacting with their ancient counterparts a new chapter opens up for inspection and for interacting. 

It is hard to look into the Archon. They were never my invention, as such the larger storyline is beyond me (reinventing them is not my goal or my premise or my desire). But with these parts in play Bioware could end up with a killer game on ALL systems (yeah, I cannot stop them going to the Microsoft losing solution). 

A stage that took me a day and even now I have an additional game in my mind that involves the Citadel (which would not be allowed on Xbox). 

In less than two days I came up with a kick ass gaming solution. So how long did they take for Redfall (56%) or Starfield (85%) to shape? I reckon I got a lot more done is less then half the time.

Just my point of view in the latter part of Monday, as such it might merely be me. Enjoy!

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June 18, 2021 · 06:53

Vindictive eagerness

So is a person eager to be vindictive, or does that person seek vindication through eagerness, they are not the same but at times we cannot tell the difference within ourselves. Yes, there are a lot of people who are angry because Bethesda games are not coming to Sony Playstation, it is the consequence of Microsoft paying $8,500,000,000 for Bethesda and all that is around it. I get it and even though we find it a dick move, if I owned Bethesda I would have done the same. Strategically speaking it was a pretty brilliant move. So as we took notice of quotes like “Bethesda’s SVP of global marketing and communications Pete Hines offered an apology to PS5 owners, claiming that he understands the frustration, but there’s also very little that he can do about the situation. At the end of the day, it seems that the exclusivity is just part of game publisher politics!” And the man is right, it is the trump card of a system, we feel stricken because millions of gamers embraced Bethesda on their console and that got me thinking even more. I had already handed out free IP to any Sony exclusive game, but what if I add Amazon Luna to that list? You see, the idea came when I saw “Microsoft outlined the future of the Xbox platform. It was a quick focus on how we’ll be playing games rather than what we’ll be playing. Part of this new design strategy was outlined in a Q&A with Xbox head Phil Spencer and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella” in the PC Magazine that was headed by ‘Microsoft Expands Xbox Cloud Gaming, But Streaming Won’t Replace Consoles’ and PC Magazine is right, but if we give IP to Amazon Luna (Google Stadia made a few wrong decisions), which was seen 3 days ago with ‘Ubisoft keeps Google’s ship afloat as exclusives dominate the show’, yes, if Google wants to embrace gaming mediocrity it is their choice, and even as they see it as a valid one, I do not think that relying on Ubisoft will help them that much, as I personally see it Ubisoft dropped the ball too often and has become slightly too unreliable. So it seems that the Number three spot after Nintendo might in the near future become Amazon Luna. Microsoft will remain around in gaming ranking, but it will be 4th, or 5th (more likely) position. So as I have a bit of free time, I will try to make the $8,500,000,000 invoice to seem like it was a $28,500,000,000 one, and by handing out free IP to Sony and Amazon exclusive games is one way of doing it and as I am creating novel and never seen before gaming IP, Microsoft will have to counter and that is the funny part of a vendor that buys ideas, they more usually than not are utterly incapable of creating their own (Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk). 

So as I was pondering a few ideas I suddenly realised that cloud gaming comes with another benefit, games can take new directions in a much larger field. It is like handing an artist who grew its art through drawing on A4 pieces of paper, an A1 sheet. In the beginning, he might think of how much bigger his art is, then he will see that he can place 15 additional pieces of art on one sheet, yet when you combine the two thoughts, you get a very different stage and that is where cloud gaming can take you.

I created in the past a game IP (situated in Amsterdam post apocalyptic) that had a wink towards Mercenary (a very old Atari ST game), but what if we change the premise, what if the sandbox is not merely one we create, but what if we can move from sandbox to sandbox? So what if we create the algorithm that can give us Europe around 400BC, 500AD and 2700AD and 3500AD? The same for a sandbox in China, India, South America and America? Not the people, but the lay of the land. So you end up with 20 sandboxes and the gamer can try and master them all. As we set the stage to a larger frame of mind (and a larger sandbox) we now can use that same sandbox in a few stages and in several games. So far none have offered that option, because it was not part of their setting, but they never considered the advantage of a much larger piece of paper, yes you can use it for larger art, but how many considered the ability to change that one piece of A1 and turn that into 16 pieces of A4? 

Yet that was merely the land, so what next? Well that is where it takes a shine to other fields and for that I need t remind people of something called Zoids, but with caution. I never saw the manga, I only saw the toys in a shop, but it was presented to me in a different fashion, two pieces make a larger third piece and even though I thought it was novel and nice for the kids, I never gave it much thought after that, but the idea stuck in the back of my mind somewhere. So what happens when the gamer is such a Zoid and by exploration the gamer can find and salvage more and more parts evolving over time and adding abilities, requirements and staging a much larger area. There was seemingly (never seen by me) something called ‘Zoids Saga DS’, it had the right idea, but like so many other things it was seemingly a really nice idea, but it was ultimately limited by gaming and that was 25 years ago, in this stage something like the Amazon Luna or the Sony PS5 can turn that idea into something serious and as we detach area from gaming premise we can add game after game in the same sandbox, the gamer can select which sandbox he plays this on, like an adaptive RPG, the stage will no longer be depending or limited on where you are, but what you become. Gaming as far as I could tell never took that sideway towards a larger highway, so as  we are dumped in what would become Madrid, Paris or Oslo, the adaption takes a different turn and we will not have seen that part before, cloud gaming allows for that and if we can bitchslap Microsoft marketing around on what they present to be innovation compared to actual innovation we might wake up whole scores of gamers as well. In this there is an old saying: “The analyst will show you what the best direction is, the politician makes you look forward to the invoice that follows”, yet the business world has more and more adapted from actual analysts to storytellers and now they have a problem, the politician adjusted to the storyteller, yet as I offer materials and foundations to others, the storyteller can adjust for what they have, not what others get. They can merely watch it happen and that puts the politician that the company relies on in a precarious situation.

Now this is no indication that all is bad for Microsoft, they will have home-runs and they will have plenty of good days, and they are entitled to those too, yet within the next year Microsoft and their  Azure work desk will add limitations and they will set the need for gamer data and as gamers will realise that always online means something different for Microsoft as it does for a cloud game, people will catch on, they are to some degree merely a revenue asset and that is where Sony, Nintendo and Amazon can shine and win. They always treated the gamer as a gamer and they gained the revenue, Microsoft and Ubisoft saw the gamer as a revenue piggybank and as I personally see it approached them as such, the moment the larger group of gamers catch on these two will take a dive and that is why my view of Google Stadia relying on Ubisoft gets hurt in the process. As I see it, should Amazon Luna embrace the qualities of Sony and Nintendo, they will end up in third position of the gamers list, with Google and Microsoft trying to catch up. I wonder if that is what Microsoft aimed for the whole time, spend $8,500,000,000 to end up in fifth position. I do not know, I am merely speculating and created a few ideas in the process. So as I left an (intentional) gap in the thoughts I offered, have you figured out what I am seeing all whilst Google Stadia and Microsoft Xcloud rely on Ubisoft+ titles? When Ubisoft+ becomes a separate vendor, something we have seen in streaming more than once, what will become of Microsoft, Google and its gamers? Amazon Luna has an advantage and over the next year it could evolve into an impressive amount of forward momentum, a stage that could degrade Microsoft in 4th position, so the maker of the strongest console in the world is basically a year away from moving from 3rd position to 4th position in gaming. I wonder if they consider that part when they handed over $8,500,000,000. I would not be surprised if they offer PS5 gamers Xcloud and Microsoft software on PS5 in some near future. I doubt Sony gamers will trust Microsoft, but you never know. 

So as we accept that we see “Xbox has roared to life at E3 announcing 30 new games for Series X|S”, we think it is a lot, and when we see “it laid out two years of exclusives including Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield from Bethesda”, yes over two years, implying 15 a year and more important, the big guns relying on a Bethesda game now need to create a hype that is staged for November 11th 2022. 11 years after Skyrim and it is still 511 days away and a lot can happen in that time, more important, their big guns are presented a year early and we saw that happen when Bioware did that with Mass Effect Andromeda, how exactly did that end?

The old expression: “You never know how the cow catches the hare” (answer: with a fishing rod)

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January 20, 2021 · 06:42

Replay the past in the present

We all do that, we sometimes think we can and sometimes we hope it will be an option. I am on this horse because I am slightly too angry with UK Common Law, and I need to cool down, so I hope that THAT article will come next. To cool off, I did something I had not planned, I installed Skyrim on the PS5, in part because I saw a tweet regarding Skyrim that I can get it to do 60 fps on the PS5, part because I am still one achievement short (slay the legendary dragon), in the last two attempts there was too much grinding going on and I am still playing it on the PS4 as well. Yet for some reason I had forgotten how satisfying the first 10 levels were. The limits, the setting of joining groups, and the setting of having no place. I had forgotten just how perfect Skyrim is. Yes, I know, I have seen the crying people on ALL the bugs, but to be honest, I have had very little issues. Yes, there are a few glitches, but that comes with the setting of a game this big. Oh, and over 9 years we see that there are 17 patches (including the last one for PS5, I am guessing), a game that is 9 years old (released 11.11.11) and still it holds a sway over us (at me at the very least). A good game is really hard to find and Bethesda outdid themselves here. I had designed Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration, and I had hoped it would equal Skyrim, of course my ego feels that I would be surpassing it, but if I only equal it, the game would be a massive success. This is seen in two ways, in the first, write yourself a list of games that you still love to play (beginning to end), and I reckon that this list has less than a dozen titles, If the game must be older than 3 years, the list will be less than half of what you had and in 9 out of 10 cases Skyrim will be on there.

The future options
In light of the news that has been out there, 2021 will be a great gaming year. This is part of what is already out there and part because Bioware has announced a remastered trilogy of Mass Effect on PS5 and that Microsoft contraption. There is off course the first game, yet it is the second one that takes the cake, until recent seen as one of the best tactical RPG’s ever created, the people (read: gamers) have been eagerly awaiting that title. There are all kinds of rumours as to the reason, but in the end it does not matter, millions want to replay that trilogy and on nextgen is a setting that no one wants to miss. Even as I set the premise last year n an idea to relaunch ME4 (together with ME5) to give a larger credibility to the titles, we see that no matter how good that could be, it might never be as great as ME1 through ME3. I get that, the story was breathtaking no game could ever equal that in that era and even now games are struggling to equal those three titles. Bioware and Bethesda set the markers to near perfection and that I what gamers crave, that near perfection feeling, Ubisoft seemingly never understood that. 

Yet no matter who we embrace and what title we go for, we go for the entertainment and in that setting I looked again at the station of the open RPG I created (as a response to Microsoft buying Bethesda) for developers to freely use for Sony exclusive games. It was my way to make the Microsoft $7,500,000,000 to be a lot more expensive than they bargained for. In this I made a few more modifications, or perhaps a better description would be ‘a conceptual path to allow for more’ in this the idea to have 1-2 additions to be played on mobiles, free games that enhances the first one. In Fable we saw Pubgames, yet what happens when we create mobile games (android and iOS), that allows players to do some of the menial tasks in the game, whilst you are on route to work/school, during lunch, or just when you are out enjoying the sun. 

Work
The work app is one where the rejuvenated hero works a job (depending on what job he scored), over 30 minutes you tire the hero and he sleeps it off whilst you work/learn, and at the end of that time you come home, start the game and the hero has gained credits and coins.

Education
Whilst our hero works he learns and gains experience (not as much as in the game), but he could learn and achieve an extra skill point, in addition to that, whilst the hero learns, there will optionally be a stage where new and more equipment becomes available.

As we have thee money to go out and explore, we see that the game gets a larger push towards the gamer, to see more, learn more and do more. Yes, we acknowledge that there was a great stage to play Fable 2 and own the pub BEFORE you entered the tower, yet what happens when your years of absence made you lose the pub and its income? The setting is a mere reflection (I am not negative towards Fable), we need to see that there is a whole range of options and in this I moved as far away from the Bethesda s possible, not because the games were bad, no the opposite, they were really good, so creating something different was essential and when you look at all the D&D games, it is surprising how alike some are. If another franchise gets to stand up, it needs to be different from other games, it needs to set a different stage and it needs to have larger options, in this large is reflecting on the application of other solutions giving you more options to enjoy exploring, and do things. 

In this, I merely thought of a part of my consideration (Elder Scrolls VII) and I came up with another bevel to implore and to exploit. A setting that TES4 and TES5 didn’t have to the degree I considered and as such, I can add this to my game as it was never there, and that is not all, even as we see the larger stage of new opportunities, we need to weigh, just like in every game, will it be an addition, or merely a fab that goes nowhere? It is an important question to ask ourselves, because we always think that our idea is perfect, but that is not a given and even as I create something new, it will not be for every gamer, it will be for the RPG lover, that is who I cater for, and I will say right now, if you do not care for RPG games you might not like this game and even if you like RPG games, you might not like this either. I cater to a group of people and I will be happy when that group is larger than expected, but unlike Ubisoft, I keep realism in the visors, those who cater to all will never cater to anybody, I still believe that and so far I have not been proven wrong.

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January 11, 2021 · 23:37

The path overlooked

Yes, we all overlook paths, options of choice, you, me, we all do it. It has nothing to do with intent. Most of the time we forgot that the option was there. Yet this time around it becomes an essential part, you see 2021 will offer a larger stage, a stage where Microsoft has an advantage (Bethesda, Bioware, EA), they might be in denial and some will make carefully phrased denials or reconsiderations with last November “PS5 will still get Bethesda games — but they’ll be ‘first or better’ on Xbox”, now, the first part is fine, Microsoft paid $7,500,000,000 for that privilege, it is the ‘or better’ part that I have a problem with, as such I set out and designed (conceptual design) of a new RPG to be used freely by Sony in previous blogs, but that is not enough. There is every indication that Mass Effect might not make it to PS5 either and that too is fair, it is a Microsoft stage and I worry, because Mass Effect remastered will contain Mass Effect 2, which is pretty much one of the best games in history, anyone denying that is nuts. So I need to have to be creative and set the stage for Sony too. Now, Sony has its own stage of exclusives and they are way good, but to set the stage that an independent software house can freely use for a PS5 exclusive is not the worst idea, I am a writer, not a game programmer. Intelligence and business intelligence yes, games no, I am a simple guy (to some extent). 

As such I started to work and after half a dozen ideas (that looked too much like something that existed already), and after I had set the stage of a completely redesigned Murder on the Zinderneuf (optionally now with a different title) and a completely new approach to Seven Cities of Gold, I found the setting I forgot about (all whilst I also made an approach towards Fallout Shelter, yet not the same game, but now set on a space station called Babylon 5) I found the solution in this in an approach taking a coin from the TV series Smallville. Yet this is not a game about Superman, Superboy or Tom Welling. Consider a city, I would say Any city and perhaps that is apt, you see there will be 4 towns, the size of Lancaster, PA. In these towns (you get one randomly assigned at the start of the game). We have a town with 12,000-18,000 NPC’s, we will also have events that impact the town (not unlike the TV series Haven), but not the same, anyhow, you start as a boy (or girl) as a sophomore and you will have abilities and there you can make a directional choice. But here the complication starts, the powers you have have limitations, they drain after use and take almost a full day to recharge, yet as you use a power, you make the power stronger and as such it can be used faster (up to 3 times a day) and as you use one power new options will evolve. 

SO you need to be wise in its use and also consider the option of being clever and find another solution. This will not make it easy, but that is the challenge, get to the end of high school and win all challenges. We have seen a partial setting in Buffy, Angel and Smallville, but no one considered to make a game out of it. 

So why will it work?
I believe it will work as the game maker needs to evolve the NPC part of the game way beyond Ubisoft ever achieved to do so. You need to keep track of up to 18,000 people and their family, if one person will not make it, it will affect at least a dozen people and as you fail to save people, there is a chance that the police will start to investigate you as an optional criminal. 

It sets a new stage where you need to plan your steps ahead, it is no longer fly by the seat of your pants, it becomes fly by wire and you are the Boeing 737, as far as I can tell, it has never been done before and if the makers pulls it off, it is the setting for an almost legendary achievement. And let’s face it, these series have had its settings of antagonists, in this we get the setting that we make some of these antagonists heroes. Some of them have been unfortunately in that regard.  A nice example is Sandman (Spiderman), Alicia Baker (Smallville), Amy Madison (Buffy), Sylar (Heroes), the list goes on and on and no one considered to set this approach of abilities in another frame and not merely there, there are a few more settings. 

Why this path?
Well, we can have another run through the story games like there are so many, but games like Spiderman (PS4, PS5) are successful, not merely because they are perfect, but because they offer choice, we get to go into the game in whatever direction we want to take it. We know that at times we need to follow the main story, but the large stage of freedom is why these games are so adored and replayed. We never considered to take that stage and evolve it. Yet we must also see the path of originality, which is why I merely gave examples. I saw ‘inFAMOUS Second Son’ as an average game, not because of the start, the start is pretty fantastic, a smoke ability? The issue becomes that the game based in Seattle becomes linear way too soon, so as you mark of all the missions per district, as you clean up each segment, you end up with enough power-points to immediately upgrade whatever power you unlock, the stage of choice is great, but always per district and always linear, that is why it is not a great game, but a good game, and the concrete power at the end is not used to the larger stage. Laser power is too powerful. All stages of near hits, but still an original game. A 90%+ game that ended being a mere 80% game, such a shame, such a waste. In my mind I am setting  stage that avoids that, and a stage where the town becomes the sandbox and the NPC’s are the triggers that starts missions (optionally puzzle inclined), and as I do this, I am wondering what happens when we remaster Soul Reaver to a new stage, enlarged, interacted and also take away the weakness the first one had (repetitive and a little shallow). Sony has great IP, I wonder who was sitting and considering what they hd only to fall into the same trap Microsoft is in (it needs to be new, it needs to be cool), and all that time, Sony has access to IP 20 years old that was regarded as an original game. It needs work, no one denies that, but it is something Microsoft does not have, as such we need to consider it, because the more exclusive games, the less chance Microsoft has and we need to acknowledge that the Bethesda deal gives them an advantage, not enough, but why give them that much leeway in the first place?

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November 5, 2020 · 02:19

The edge of IP

Yup, another bout of insomnia, another idea in the IP range. I state this casually and carefully, because even if the stage is altered, there might be a setting where it in not entirely my IP. In the first I came up with a new Mass Effect Andromeda, I wrote about it previously and to make the story fit, the game would contain a remastered and rewritten part one (the bad version we saw in 2017), a lot would be used, but the game would be different, even if the planets are not. That was only part one, the stage of part two is in three parts, the Nexus, the missing ships and 5 additional planets. Also we would revisit the planets that were cleaned up with a lot of additional materials. Yet my mind kept on racing. It was the Prothean Vigil VI who gives us “They used the conduit to gain access, but the conduit is only a prototype. The portal only links in one direction, so they were trapped on the station. I do not know what became of them there, it is unlikely they found any food or water, they suffered a slow grim death”, the game is 13 years old, and I have lashed out to Microsoft on a number of occasions, but this one, this one they got right, and the second game was even better the the first one, optionally one of the best RPG games EVER produced. 

So what happens when a group of people makes it to the Citadel, about 2 millennia after the reapers. The station cold dark and we get to see the restart of the station, the keepers are setting the parameters for races to come, yet what happens when teams Humans, Salarians, Drell, Turians, and Protheans make it to the Citadel? Not the original station as shown in the game, but the station in its complete complexity. Each race starts in the original building that was meant for them, as they could dock there, but after that, it becomes a chase, a challenge, of puzzles and wit to survive, to create the stations energy settings, the interactions that are required and not to mention as you play one race, all the others become NPC’s, with the option of a previous completed race to use your achievement as a template to equal. Something like that has as far as I can see never been done before and to that extent wasn’t even possible until the PS5 (and its Microsoft equivalent) were released. Not to mention there is every chance that the Google Stadia might keep up, so that is three, all whilst it would be possible to link a friend and set his milestones as one for one of the NPC’s. 

You might wonder why that and not a new station, a new environment. Yes, that is true, but to create all the races and all the settings takes a lot more and these races have been clearly established, also there is a danger that we might inadvertently copy parts of another Citadel station (System Shock), as such I wanted to get head of the curve (as I am not getting any sleep)

It would still be a large undertaking, The idea was bugging me when I was redesigning MEA and MEA2 in one package, the setting of the size of the station was never that clearly represented, also the cryogenic unlocks made little sense, there was too little pro and con options. A setting where we see the plusses on one sided and we weigh that, all whilst the minus side was largely ignored. So as I went out to create a new version in my mind, I kept on looking at the larger stage, the larger needs and it kept on kicking me back to Citadel station, especially the parts we saw in ME1 and ME2, I thought it was time to kick it in another direction and this is what I came up with in a mere 2-3 hours. 

Consider the screenshot, it is part of the citadel, 5 arms, one arm holding dozens upon dozens of skyscrapers, each building (or at least several of them) explorable, yet there is also the danger of that needle and haystack expression, there needs to be a clear directive on what is required, what are we seeking for, and not all are in the same arm, so paths are needed, airlocks, and larger cargo spaces so we can travel between the arms, yet the keepers (now under clear Reaper control) must also be avoided and changes need to be done whilst they are not looking. All whilst ever building is getting cleaned and sanitised by worker drones. 

It becomes a much larger setting and it might be one that the explorers under us (Dora too) might like to get a handle on. And let’s not forget, there are 5 teams, optionally some with advanced knowledge. All this and the Andromeda challenge too? What a luxury! I would love to make it a Sony exclusive, but Microsoft already has the beat on the IP, so if there is exclusivity, it might be Xbox (something I really would not like).

Well, it is 2:14 now, I have no idea what I will come up with next, but I got roughly 4 hours until the sun comes up and I forgot my Maui Jim glasses. 

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August 29, 2020 · 05:26

Jealousy

We all have it and I am no exception. Yes, I am keeping the IP I have to myself (for now), and I have been involved in video games since 1985, so when I see ‘EA Executives Blocked From Receiving “Exorbitant” Awards’ (source: Kotaku) all whilst we see “Earlier this week, investors shot down EA’s proposed payment plans for their executives” in the same frame when I proposed a version of Mass Effect that would undo the damage the previous one did and give the players a 400% boost in exploratory gameplay is set on a slippery slope. When a group of people getting millions of bonuses for making junk why would I bother helping them? (slightly miffed me), yet when we see the list of games coming out, we see a drove of remastered games (now also coming to Nintendo Switch), with a huge spoonful of sport games, which was always their core business, yet there is now a hole, even as we accept that there is a border to Sims, there is an edge to the Medal of Honour and there is a life expectancy of Dead Space, EA had good games and that is merely in the near past. Especially now in the Google Stadia stage, they seemingly forget Populous, Populous 2, Seven cities of gold. Yes, we get it these are old games, but so are a large group of remastered games. EA has a large opportunity, Google needs fuel for its stadia, EA has a whole range of games that likes players and with Ubisoft the way it is now, EA has the advantage. We might see the temporary influx of a gem like Battle Chess and we all see it, yet it became a game that was (for a while) liked and optionally loved by a whole range of people with zero interest in chess gaming. So what happens when the tutor part of Battle Chess increases a lot more, what happens when a whole new generation of players can get into chess, optionally with the added play online, set groups of players and so on. A categorical side of Elo, the chess rating. There is still the option to add Battle Chess 2, yet the question becomes how many people warm up Chinese chess (different pieces, different moves). When we accept that we are willing to engage into the side of puzzles that need solving, chess puzzles are there for all and in the stage that Google Stadia finds itself in, there is a larger need to get the gaming fuel going and the fuel they are all forgetting about is the fuel that is out in the open. And it is not about the identical port, but it is about what more the games could offer and these games have plenty to offer, all whilst the IP is still in the hands of EA (most of them anyway). EA has a massive advantage. Even as there is a lot of anti-EA people, the quality of games was never below the par line, not like the par line Ubisoft waves anyway. There is also the stage to grow, a game like Shadow Caster was not the great game it could have been then, but the stage now could lead to a lot more gaming and dare I say it a higher quality level of gaming? And they are not alone, Ian Bird created a game called Millennium 2.2 31 years ago. A game that I still remember playing on the CBM Amiga, The CBM Amiga had to deal with 512KB of RAM and a disc holding 880KB of storage, Any system can surpass that now, so we could see a setting where this game could be restitched at the tailor giving us a new style of clothing, in new colours with more versatility. That is the stage that I feel the most on with Severn Cities of Gold. Ubisoft makes us chase in game loot boxes, yet the origin of this comes from discovering things and Seven Cities of gold delivered. Nowadays it does not hold up to our needs, but what happens when we set the stage to a much higher level, yet the original idea was sound. Yes, I know, we hear all these people with ‘I can do this much better’, but where are they? Where is their product? 

I am not claiming to do any better, but I see what is and what can be and they are merely mulling it over with their ‘improved product’ and not showing anything. It is a shame because there is a stage where Google Stadia can surpass Microsoft and I have a vested interest in showing them how wrong their approach was, treason to gamers is a stage I take very seriously and I am driven to see them fall, if only to show them the error of their delusional stage of self preservation. OK, I admit that this is a little over the top, but to see them having to swallow their words ‘We have the most powerful system in the world’, letting them surpass themselves by the weakest system (Nintendo Switch) and optionally set the stage of the Google Stadia surpassing them as well is a nice notch on my 6 shooter. The fuel for gamers is games and adding a whole range of games that entice, reward game time and let them feel the joy of gaming is rewarding to me. 

And the stage of setting loose on the gaming world of amazing games is just icing on the cake. In this EA is a good start, they had excellent games, no denying that and a package deal there would be a larger win for Google. I believe that the games that enticed the previous generation can still entice the current generation when we upgrade and adjust the game to what we expect in today’s environment. Let’s not forget that most games were created in a pre controller age, as such the quality of game play will go up a lot, and I believe that this stage is one that Google Stadia as well as Apple Arcade would want to pursue. They cannot beat Nintendo or Sony, but they can catch up with marketing driven Microsoft and optionally surpass them, I would see it as a personal achievement. A setting where bullet point driven executives are shown the door by the gamers they set up to milk. So I admit, there is some jealousy when my evangelical approach to gaming is not rewarded and the inferior approach to gaming is, on the other had, they delivered a product and I do not deny it, I merely wonder why some products (the non-sport games) aren’t better, yet I also recognise that the umpteen versions of Sims allow for jewels like Unravel to make it, one hand washes the other and we let slide the disappointment that was Mass Effect 4, especially as there is a stage where the mistake can be undone. All whilst those who love the Sims get another influx of juice, Jedi juice is you like.

We can channel our jealousy, we can ignore our jealousy or we can deny it, it is up to you to decide on your view, your choice and perhaps your drive. I will leave it with you, and to give a little shot to your drive, gaming revenue represented $120 billion in 2019, if you want a slice of that, get to work.

 

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August 16, 2020 · 17:58

The Ai setting

Yes, we have all seen and optionally commented on the blunder that was Mass Effect Andromeda, yet consider that we could undo the damage? Even now as the rumour mill goes on about a remastered Mass Effect. I personally wonder what power Apple or Google consoles gained if they owned the Mass Effect IP (or Bioware). Consider a new console with one of the most revered IP’s in gaming history. This is not some ‘what if’, well actually it is, but consider tens of millions of fans now in a stage where they are confronted with one of these systems holding onto the console so that they can play this game. It is not unheard of, we have all been in that stage before and consoles used to get ahead with this level of creativity in their exclusives list.

So as I (re)designed the Mass Effect concept I did the one thing that had not been done before in gaming EVER. Mass Effect 5 is not merely the fifth game, it would be games 4 and 5 together, yes some things will be the same, but the stage is larger and also has a lot of changes. In the first, the Nexus playing area is at least 10 times larger, and the stage is a combinations of additional and new gaming settings. Of course each of the sister ships of the Hyperion would need to be found, Habitat 7 does not change, it is the introduction to the story and to playing the game. Yet the planets of 4 (Elaaden, Havarl, Aya, Eos and Voeld) would also be there and they would be larger, each with additional missions and additional tasks (making replaying acceptable and challenging). In addition to this  the other parts are mostly there, except for the memories, they can only be on the hyperion (how they could be on planets never visited before is just weird). As I see it, every planet has stages 1. Arrival stage, 2. Post Remnant Vault activation, 3. Phase one of repairs and adjustments 4. Phase 2 of repairs 5. Phase 2 of adjustments

It sets a stage where the planets need to be revisited and in that light each of these planets gets a second area to land and to set up another base, so as one base is scientific in nature, the second one is military in nature. Apart from the Kett presence, the second base will be a lot more about flora and fauna. There will be some Kett, but not to the first area levels, and in addition to that, the player will need to set the stage of building the cars and factories so that they support the nexus best. It will be around choices made, but it will depend on the player. For example in the 4 planets staged (Aya is off-limits), Food will be staged on every planet, yet the return on one is 100%, yet the others will give you 70%-80%, so the need to make the choice is essential, but you have no real choice in location, making the stage of food different, for example Eos is the first planet you reach, yet to give the player choices, we get a different setting, a such finding the right places to grow food and mine for minerals becomes a little bit of a challenge, however we can level the playing field by setting the percentage stage to random (70,80,100 or 110), add to this the nexus and the stage where waking up the right people becomes important, as well as reenergising the nexus so that labs can open up as energy becomes available is a larger stage. 

Most elements that can be compartimentalised in the game could set a growing stage we can adjust to, it also sets Mass Effect to a much larger stage, one worthy of a successor to the first three. For the fifths game we should look deeper into the Kett, we see them as the great evil, but what happens when that is not the case? What happens when their existence is part of a crucible? We need another 4 planets, in this, we should try to set a larger stage and a different stage. So what happens when one planet is aquatic? What happens when one place is like a gas giant (not unlike Cloud city in the Empire strikes back)? A stage where we interact in other ways, as such 2 remain, one should be toxic in origin the other one I leave open (someone might have had an idea), with the stage in that regard, the larger stage to revisit meridian and a stage where we apply a new stage, a stage of resources shared and politics gained. There are a lot of options that a game like Mass Effect allows for and in this we haven’t even looked at the stage where the nexus is attacked and a fight in the corridors, not just that, the damage is ‘real’ and debilitating depending on where the station is damaged, so repairs need to be made (to some degree) before the station is back on track. All these options overlooked in the initial game, the nexus was supposed to equal Citadel, but was less than 10% its size in gameplay. That has to change, and the game is in a much larger setting if the new approach is taken, a game that revisits feelings on a game published and becomes better and stronger because of it. As such no matter where it ends up initially (Google Stadia or Apple console) they would have the setting to add a few million fans right off the bat, when we see the initial hype for Andromeda, that stage can easily be surpassed if the result is properly tested. I wonder if Electronic Arts ever considered that their product could end up deciding who the third most sold console could end up being, the stage is that certain at present, and of course, there is no reason why it should not be on other consoles, yet the financial power that a timed delay for other consoles is could fund a massive part of the development cost and that is when the larger profits comes in (for Electronic Arts), especially if a game like Mass Effect Andromeda sets the gaming bar to a much higher level. We have seen long term gaming in several ways, yet until Bethesda released the Elder Scrolls Online, long term RPG was a little in a corner, now you are given the light where they are no longer alone in this, it sets a different stage for Google and Apple, one they could only have hoped for and it is within their reach to set this stage to their system.

 

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September 19, 2019 · 12:06

What if they redid it?

I got lucky last week. I stumbled upon Cash converters with a Mass Effect Andromeda (for Xbox One) for $2, even as I had the PS4 edition, replaying it for $2 was just too nice to pass up. There was another reason to not get it for any more than that. I was hugely disappointed with the game. The makers were holding a huge pastry in front of us, only to offer a mere outdated carrot in the end. Still, the graphics were nice, the game remains flawed on several levels and the goals are for the most too linear.

It was at that moment that my mind redesigned the game again (I did that exercise after I finished the PS4 edition). And I wondered about the one question that needed answering. What if I created Mass Effect Andromeda 2 (MEA2), whilst upgrading the first game from a 72% game to a 91% game or better, would you replay it?

In this stage the game would be 3 discs with the first game (mostly), the second disc would be the Nexus and the third disc would be the second game called Mass Effect Andromeda: Debellatio.

First off, the first game would end up being twice the size, the entire memory segments part would be on the Hyperion alone, the Hyperion would be roughly 20 times the current version, whilst the playable part of the Nexus is 10 times larger and the view makes it 200 times the size. The missions of the first game would remain (there would be more of them) and the story would be amped up to give a larger storyline to the Kett, the scourge as well as the Angara. The question is: Would you seriously consider playing it again?

I believe that this could work. The game would be massive on the consoles (200GB), yet the stage created would give close to 200 hours of gameplay. The original touched on great topics and then let them simmer, which was a waste on a few levels. Still, there is really good material to work with and if the maps are enlarged by well over 50% it becomes more of an exploration. We could also fix the flaws in the first version by making the second tier (after the vault is restarted) a lot more challenging and rewarding. The mining part required upgrades, so that there is a direct link in building the nexus and completing it linking it to the resources found and mined. These are all elements that add to the game and add requirements to the need of exploration.

Lastly, the arks, all 4 (with an optional 5th) will be found by the end of the second game, making it part of the main storyline and not some DLC. Consider these elements and ask yourself, would you buy a game at $160 that offers all that? I believe it would, especially when the multiplayer part is upgraded to a Mass Effect 3 level. It could be a new wave of multiplayer hungry admirers, it will of course come with the guarantee that I get to cut off the head of any EA executive that messes with that concept or forces the buying of loot boxes, the Mass Effect 3 formula was utterly perfect, so let’s not ever mess with that again.

It took a mere hour to consider the steps that could get this game from 71% to 91%, and I get it, there are budgets to consider. The question becomes what does an EA executive see as the difference of a budget toward a 70% game versus the one delivering a 90%+ game? I wonder if they can really set a number to that. Consider that the first version was staged by a budget of C$100 million, which included marketing and research costs, whilst I designed in my mind improvements over a mere cappuccino. There is a benefit of having been a part of gaming since 1985, and I believe that I know what pushes a decent game to a great game. If the EA/BioWare executives make that claim, I wonder why they failed the first time, whilst they had 3 examples in front of them and they owned the IP of it.

Even as Forbes gave us in 2017 ‘EA Is Now Singing Mass Effect Andromeda’s Praises As A Revenue Driver‘, yes it is true, but the bulk of all these were people who had played the previous games and hoped for a glimmer of greatness. And a revenue driver sounds nice, but if it cannot be repeated it becomes lost IP, and who ever won a war by losing its IP?

The important part was that the combat part did not suck, it was a good combat system and that is at the core of the success that was and the greatness it could be. There is also a business case to be made, as Anthem is seen as a failure by more and more, we need to recognise that EA desperately needs a win, one that will allow them to be regarded as an AAA developer. The news ‘BioWare Loses Lead Producers for Both Dragon Age 4 and Anthem‘ that got out two weeks ago supports the placement that Bioware (EA as well) are no longer the high end developers they used to be. It is about business and profit at the expense of gaming, a disastrous formula well beyond twice over. I would go as far as stating that until these two players do not learn that lesson, they have lost their ability as an actual game maker.

The fact that there are options for both EA and Bioware is merely a stroke of luck on their part, hugely due to the previous designers who did do an excellent job, even now, one generation later Mass Effect 2 is still seen as one of the best games ever to grace the Xbox 360, moreover, the Xbox One has only produced games that equalled it, optionally with the exception of Assassins Creed Origin, a game that did break all the records.

And even now when we realise that a few months ago we got ‘EA ‘learned a lot’ from Anthem but doesn’t apologize‘ gives us the larger stage, we don’t need their apology, we need them to make an actual game (if they still can, and sport games do not count).

Yet the premise remains, what if the first MEA is added to the second and upgraded, would you pay for it, and would you play it? I personally believe it to be the case, especially when you realise the amount of times the first two games were played to be a nice and a naughty Shepard, optionally 4 times if you wanted to do it all for the ‘he’ as well as the ‘she’ version of the game. The groundwork was decent, but too largely unfinished and the amount of stages where the game failed on a few levels was just mind boggling, Mass Effect 3 had a few of these issues, but not as much, and they were less irritating I might add.

Why?

All gamers (including me) we yearn for the high of really good gaming and we want that feeling again and again. It is not just the sound of the achievement; the feeling of getting to the end of the game; and not to forget the entire journey to get to the end. We will go through great lengths to get that feeling again and again, hence the power of the Franchise, even after 5 partial failures, AC Origin made up for that and for the most we feel really happy that we got to that point. Ubisoft has seen this personally, EA might say that they learned, but it is still unlikely that they actually did. For the most EA became a pool of business graduates and there is nothing against that group, yet the business is gaming and not spreadsheets. You might want to keep it for your numbers, yet profit is no valid KPI of joy, the KPI of joy is excellence, it always was joy, Elder Scrolls, Ultima, Fallout, Dark Souls, Witcher, and God of War, not to forget the latest new RPG franchise Horizon Zero Dawn. They all know that excellence is what keeps you in profit, EA (optionally Bioware) forgot about that part and now they are bleeding, the amount of damage cannot be seen, it can only be seen in how they survive and whilst they think that profit and margins are the most important, these two players will miss the ball again and again. This is such a shame because before 2016 the Mass Effect franchise was a great achievement, the question becomes are the makers ready to fight for greatness?

Gamers care for that and even as we realise that others are vying for our attention and our allegiance, they now see that the time of options like Anthem is transient at best, the fact that gamers are willing to pay full price for a well-made remaster of the original three, even now after 10 years is the part that matters. You either rely on old games for a little while or you up the ante. It is at Ubisoft where we see that optionally become reality, even now, as far as we can tell, they went all out on Watchdogs 3: Legion and so far all the response is raving, and the fan club of those wanting to play it in the first hour is still growing non-stop, even after its initial view several months ago. Watchdogs had a speckled past, but they upped their game in the second game and it seems that now, in the third game they up it all in a very different and very novel way, the path a gamer did not see coming, the most enticing drug of all, the surprise path, EA and Bioware should learn from that.

It is important to learn and important to up the game because serious games do that and they are up against a larger community of games, games that will include Cyberpunk 2077, God of War 5, an optional Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Watchdogs 3, all games that have (seemingly) upped gaming and both EA and Bioware will be up against it. If they are to be considered an AAA developer they have to equal and surpass that opposition, a lesson that business graduates often did not learn, it might mirror the US stupidity in the Middle East, it is based on the American standard of ‘Money talks, Bullshit walks‘ it is there that the middle east policy failure shows it for what it is. It is the same in gaming, you need to flaunt it, but to do that, you have got to have it, there is no other way and business graduates are too often of the path: ‘Fake it till you make it‘, it merely keeps you afloat in an ocean of gamers, all well versed swimmers mind you.

I have seen excellence in gaming since 1984, I can recognise it almost instantly and it is not linked to micro transactions. I saw the excellence of Elite on a CBM64 in 1985, is still lives today as Elite Dangerous, 30 years later it creates a large following of over 4 million gamers, not a bad result. There were more games and there are even games that are successes and I missed them, I cannot be everywhere. Yet I have never failed to spot good games and I have seen the path to improve bad games several times. I believe that the Mass Effect Andromeda franchise could be resurrected as a great game; I wonder how far Bioware and EA are willing to go to make that happen.

 

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