Source
r/masseffect•
Beakerbite

How will multiplayer affect Mass Effect's longevity?

With the latest Mass Effect, our effectiveness in the final encounter is heavily dependent on your multiplayer Galaxy at War score. Try as we might, I haven't seen anyone be able to get the "best" ending in ME3 through singleplayer alone. This means that multiplayer is essentially a requirement for those trying to max out their chances.

Right now, the multiplayer is incredibly fun. The combat of Mass Effect 3 is gratifying and the limited resources of each class encourage teamwork. But will it last? I doubt it. The multiplayer is simply the flavor of the month. Within a few months, match making will become incredibly difficult as more and more players leave the scene. What does this mean for Shepard? Will we be forced to grind out the multiplayer missions solo unless we have a dedicated group of friends who want to help us revisit the Mass Effect universe?

What about later on down the road? Within a year, the population will be non-existent, and Galaxy at War will just be a burden on EA. With the recent server shutdowns I'm curious how long it will take before EA follows suit with Mass Effect. What then? You won't be able to connect and do the multiplayer missions solo because there won't be anything to connect to.

I know this issue is for the future, but if Mass Effect is going to be a game you pull out in another 5 years time to relive the fond memories, this is going to have to change. Will Bioware give us a patch that removes Galaxy at War? Will you be required to have all DLC and do everything to just squeak by with enough EMS to get the best ending?

This may be something that we as a community should ask of Bioware. What is their contingency plans for when multiplayer fails and EA shuts down the servers?

Posted Mar 20, 2012, 2:10 PM UTC

3237
JadeEmpress•

I'd at least like to see them implement the option where the readiness rating doesn't degrade. Even 6 months from now, if I want to replay the main game, I don't want to have to jump into some multiplayer missions just to get my rating back up.

16
xHaUNTER•

The first time I saw that it goes down over time I was beyond pissed off. The whole feature is a stupid ploy to force people to play. I'm glad that Hudson delivered when he said you don't need multiplayer for the best ending... Oh wait.

22
CUNTALOO_VAN_FUCK•

There is a common misconception that you need multiplayer to get the 5000 rating necessary to get the best ending. This is not the case, I never touched the multiplayer and I easily obtained the 5000 necessary for the "best" ending (I ended up somewhere in the 6000 range).

I completed almost all of the side missions, and explored most of the planets, and did a good job in the main story, so it is definitely possible but does take some work.

If proof is necessary I can take screencaps, but I promise it is more than doable.

1
BeakerbiteOP•

I did everything as well. I brought peace between the Geth/Quarians and Krogan/Turians. I had all Citadel missions completed and nothing left in the journal except the final mission. I was 100% on my Galaxy at War rating. I still only had 7000. If what you say is true, I should have had roughly 12000 EMS. And yes I did carry over from ME1 and 2 and everybody was alive and well.

1
etirflita•

Unless they change the ending, I don't think you have to worry too much about effectiveness in the final encounter being heavily dependent on anything. You can unlock the 'green' ending as well as the best 'red' ending by just doing missions in game.

If they added DLC that made you allocate war assets like they did with crew members at the end of ME2, then I would agree, but we have to see how they approach the current fustercluck before moving on to the next one.

6
BeakerbiteOP•

Well I'm going off of the assumption that something will be done to fix the ending. But even still you can't get the scene where Shepard takes in a quick breath unless you have a very high EMS. This isn't a problem for many, but it's important to others and thus affects the games longevity.

4
tharealpizzagurl•

I didn't play a single match of multiplayer until after I finished the campaign and I still was over the necessary EMS for the best ending. You just have to do every mission and do them correctly. When you go through a system, ping every planet. Don't worry about the reapers, they never catch you.

1
pwn3r0fn00b5•

I'm sure It's POSSIBLE to get over 5K without MP, but it is still way too hard. I did all most all the side missions and my GR was only in the 3400s.

2
tharealpizzagurl•

Shit, really? Did you import? My save was full paragon & 95% of side missions complete from ME1 & 2. I was over 5k a few missions before I started the final quest chain, and galactic readiness was still at 50%. I did notice that some choices had very large discrepancies between the amount of war assets you get for one choice versus the other. For example, Rachni vs Krogan squad: at the time, it seems like itll be a reasonable trade off, but I think you get something like 175 for choosing rachni vs 25 for choosing Krogan. You pretty much get screwed out of a lot of points if you don't go paragon choice every time.

3
viperabyss•

I think the ONLY way to get over 5k without MP is New Game +. Even though I've imported the game from ME1/2, and done 99% of all the side quest and what nots, I only have a little over 7k in total war asset. Take a 50% axe to it, it is still 3.4k.

It is quite disappointing to see that BW (or maybe it was EA's decision?) to require the players to play multiplayers, in a single player heavy game, to get to the better endings. I mean, if the ending was good, I can kind of understand. But with an ending like ME3, what is the likelihood of someone putting the extra effort for another run?

1
ViolentZucchini•

I did this. Every system at 100%. It leveled off about about 3400 I believe.

2
[deleted]•

I just used a save editor and upped various War Assets to get 11K, nets me what I need without multiplayer.

3
BeakerbiteOP•

Hacks and trainers should not be a requirement for a games longevity. This also does not cover consoles as there isn't any way to screw with those save files (yet from what I know, xbox will probably be figured out but who knows for the ps3 users).

7
[deleted]•

I know it is unfortunate that the only alternative to multiplayer exists for 1/3 of the player base.

I just don't like the multiplayer enough to play it to get the GR to the point my EMS is in the range for "good" ending. So it was my way to increase my games longevity.

2
TheKamenWriter•

Mass Effect's MP is fun, but it's FAR FAR too narrow to have much longevity. It has one mode and three difficulties, something like 5 maps with 3 hoard types, and 6 classes.

For one thing, the Geth aren't really a compelling enemy in the same way the Reapers and Cerberus troops are, so most people will want to fight Cerberus and Husks. There's only so many times you can really play the same maps and same enemy types before you get sick of it. The Classes help, since they are quite varied and all play quite uniquely, but the way to unlock more races is utterly slow and frustrating. Once you've got all 6 classes up to level 20 you're pretty much done, and the only reason to play is to give a booster shot to your Galactic Readiness.

I think MP needs way more modes. I'd like a "Short mode" where it's only 5 waves or so, so I could play a quick game instead of spending a full half an hour on one game. Other modes that could be good are an infinite "Survival" mode, a "Versus" mode where two teams of two compete against one another to finish tasks/rack up kills, or (Even if it doesn't work with the way that Mass Effect's combat system works) a traditional 4v4 "Deathmatch," or "Capture the X." Basically, give players a reason to build or rebuild characters towards a certain game mode so they'll actually cash in their characters to use as War Assets in ME3 and start over at level 1. A Nova/Charge Vanguard may be great for 10 waves of hoard mode, but would it be as useful in a mode where there was a higher amount of "Special" enemy types like Banshees? Wouldn't you build or play a "Capture the point" engineer differently than a "Deathmatch" engineer?

If BW doesn't do this I would be very surprised if ME3 MP sustains a large playerbase for even half a year.

3
BeakerbiteOP•

Actually a race mode would be really interesting, where your trying to to the get the beacon type but instead of a timer you have the opposing team. First one to get 20 done wins the cash. A short mode would also be nice if it dropped you on wave 6 instead of starting in wave 1.

Ultimately though, these are just bandaids. Without a way to compete fairly against others, the rewards become empty and the player base vacant. I just don't think they could do a PvP mode, and I don't think it would be best for the ME franchise anyway.

1
jschild•

It's only required to get the Shepard lives Destroy ending.

EDIT: Doesn't it require 5k, or only 4k?

2
BeakerbiteOP•

I think it's 5k IIRC but I'm not sure since my playthrough has over 7k.

1
jschild•

No way to get 5k without MP is there? That would require 10k total points.

2
BeakerbiteOP•

Yeah highest is about 3500.

2
sorrynewhere•

you could use the gibbed save editor to change the war assets i believe. But you can't change the percentage

1
BmanPax•

Is the Shepard lives ending the one where he takes a quick breath or is there something more substantive? Cause I was able to get the Shepard breathes one with only 4500 EMS.

1
jschild•

Yes, but again, I've heard conflicting 4k and 5k answers, maybe its 4.5?

1
pcrackenhead•

It's 4k if you don't let The Illusive Man shoot Anderson, 5k if you do.

I was just a shade over 4k, and got the breath ending.

2
Raneados•

I was at 4300ish, saved anderson, but I picked blue because I am a a machine loving baby

still got the "raising guns" signal in the endings, so I had enough EMS to have gotten the "breath" ending

which I'm going to go back and get tonight, RED option now

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
a_clue_no•

Well, based on past games, the multiplayer will only be active for about 18 months if we're lucky. Sadly, I was having a ton of fun in multiplayer till I finished the game, and now it all seems so incredibly pointless I can't be bothered with it.

Gonna go play Gears 3 now.

EDIT: by past games I mean past EA games, they just shut down a bunch of servers for games that had only been out around 18 months.

2
hsghsghsg•

Sadly, I was having a ton of fun in multiplayer till I finished the game, and now it all seems so incredibly pointless I can't be bothered with it.

This doesn't make sense to me. Why would single player ending have an effect on how fun multiplayer is? Regardless of how you feel about the ending, if you think the multiplayer is fun, why wouldn't you play multiplayer?

5
a_clue_no•

Part of the appeal of the multiplayer is that it felt like you were contributing to the war in a story sense. The ending makes your efforts pointless.

3
astraia•

They'll probably add pre-ending DLC that gives more war assets.

2
Celladoore•

I'm confused, I had almost 6k GR and never touched multiplayer, and didn't extensively planet scan. As long as you don't make too many chaotic stupid choice in ME1 and 2, it seems pretty easy to get over 5k, and isn't that all that is required for the best ending?

2
Firekracker•

To be honest I hate the multiplayer part.

One reason is because I despise online play in general, since it's not very exiting. The first few runs may be fun, but after that it's just fucking boring, nothing new to the concept.

Secondly you have to play about 15-20 online matches to get from the default 50% to 100%...seriously, what the fuck? A match takes about 20 minutes, that' s 5-7 hours of doing exactly the same thing on a handful of maps, praying that nobody fucks up in later waves or the host doesn't rage-quit. If somebody wants to spend time in the online part that's fine, but I bought the game for the story thanks.

And thirdly the readiness rating actually decreases, something from 3% in a few hours to 5% a day, meaning you actually have to get those 5-7 hours of online play in very short succession, if you plan to get to 100%. Seriously, this isn't cool.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Robolenin•

I think the word of mouth about the ending's quality will affect the multiplayer patronage moreso than server shutdown.

1
a_nouny_mouse•

The answers lie in coalesced.bin.

In order to play this game (and achieve maximum readiness) after EA shuts down the multiplayer servers, people will have to mod their coalesced.bin file.

1