Lead Designer Addresses Issues for Mass Effect Andromeda on Twitter
It might be tempered to say this week’s launch of Mass Effect Andromeda has proven shaky. Make no mistake, the game’s average rating is 7.5 on Metacritic, which is by no means a bad grade. But, in comparing this launch to BioWare’s other titles, it may be seen as underwhelming. The game is bogged down by a few technical issues, bad writing (depending on who you ask), bizarre UI choices, and animation. For all the listed reasons, Lead Designer Ian Frazier has been on twitter to receive and confront complaints.
Regarding issues like those of the odd facial animations, Frazier responded, “We’re looking at patching lots of issues and want to strongly support the game moving forward. I can’t say more just yet.” Frazier’s twitter continuously lighted up with questions about when fixes and changes might be implemented. One player asked about when saves would be allowed in Mass Effect Andromeda’s “priority missions,” seeing as the penalty of dying forces an entire level restart. Frazier replied, “Not sure yet, still checking out the ramifications of such a change. Will tweet if/when I can!”
Added to the list of impending fixes was the Nomad’s audio bug. Frazier has been on alert and, at the very least, has been assuring players that issues are known and being worked on. While issues have been relatively substantial, none of them is game-breaking. Nonetheless, as this is Mass Effect’s fourth installment, people have come to expect more. Additional complaints confront aspects like character customization; Frazier addressed this as well: “We’re still looking @ several possibilities for improving the cc,” adding “I don’t have a timeline yet, sorry. Will post when I can! :)”
Naturally, some proved skeptical about BioWare’s earnestness toward making the fixes/additions. Frazier responded, “Absolutely. This is definitely not going in the trash–we take the concerns very, very seriously.”
While we lack a roadmap of patches, we anticipate updates in time. Speaking of which, here’s the latest patch information as a result of feedback from EA Early Access:
Patch 1.04
Single-Player
- Fixed an issue whereby players were unable to land on Ark Natanus
- Fixed an issue whereby the game loaded to a black screen or ran as a background process when Corsair Utility Engine or similar programs were running
Multiplayer
- Fixed an issue causing players to stop hearing their character’s audio and start hearing another player’s instead
- Fixed an issue causing the game to crash when using the Human Male Soldier and F key
Early Access Patch (1.01 – 1.03)
General
- Overall performance improvements
- Fixed an issue with the title only accepting input from the last controller synced when two controllers are assigned to the same profile
- Fixed various collision issues
- Fixed a few rare audio issues
Single-Player
- Improvements to many cinematics, conversations, and other character interactions
- Improved quest rewards
- Fixed an issue whereby a door could become jammed in mission 5
- Fixed issues with objective markers not appearing correctly
- Minor performance improvements after some Tempest transitions
- Fixed an issue whereby the combat music was not functioning as designed
- Fixed some minor quest-related issues
- Fixed a small cinematic issue during the Drack loyalty quest
- Minor balancing change to the “Remove the Heart” quest
- Improvements to quest tracking and waypoints
Multiplayer
- Improvements to Strike Teams UI screens
- Additional multiplayer tutorials implemented
- Balance changes to guns, reward packs, and objectives scoring
- Improved appearance of character portraits
- Added new artwork for MP characters, armor, and challenges in menus and codex entries
Anyone discovering new in-game issues for Mass Effect Andromeda is encouraged to report them here. Expect more news and updates as they come along.