Bioware has kept community feedback in mind when designing the quest system for Mass Effect: Andromeda, something we cannot help but celebrate.
When it comes to Dragon Age: Inquisition, everyone was pretty much blown away by the scale and ambition of the whole project. Still, there was one element that kinda creaked for a lot of us out there. We are referring, of course to the fetching and collection quests, and all the Astrarium and Shard endeavors. If these do not ring a bell, suffice to say that these quests challenged our completionist impulses and extended the Inquisition experience to a point where the main story line seemed like a far-away, secondary task to complete. All in all, Bioware’s try at merging RPG and MMO essences in a full single-player experience was not so well received by fans and critics.
If you were one of those fans, fear not, because Bioware team took note of the community feedback in order to polish the quest experience for their upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The statement comes from Aaryn Flynn, Bioware’s general manager, in an interview with PC Gamer quoted on NeoGAF. We know that the next chapter is all about exploration and this naturally means world openness. But, as Flynn says, “we learned that there were some quests in Dragon Age that didn’t resonate and were kind of flat – fetch quests and stuff.”
“The nice thing is,” he continues, “you take those lessons, you package them all up, and you talk to the Mass Effect team and say, ‘These are the things you should do, these are the things you shouldn’t do.’” And it seems that the Mass Effect team is fully injecting that accumulated wisdom into their next hit. Or at least trying.
Of course, we will need to wait and see the full scope of the quest system to give a verdict on what they accomplished.
Hear your Voice in Andromeda: Explorers Wanted Contest
If you have not heard it already, Bioware has launched quite the community contest. Called “Explorers Wanted”, the studio is giving the chance to all players out there to try their acting skills and record a couple of sentences for their upcoming game. If you are the chosen one, Bioware gets to pay you a full trip to one of their studios for a full recording session, and your voice will be heard in the final game. The contest if limited to residents of Australia, New Zealand Canada, United States and United Kingdom and they are receiving submissions until September 28. You can read the complete set of rules here.
“While we can’t physically send you to space, we can send your voice to Andromeda” they claim. We think it’s worth the try – what about you?
[Sources: NeoGAF and Bioware Blog]